


Miraculous: The Ladybug, The Cat and The Wolf

by Nickstar777



Series: Miraculous Nightwolf [1]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Action, Drama, F/M, Friendship, Identity Reveal, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Wolf Miraculous, semi-canon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-05
Updated: 2020-04-24
Packaged: 2020-07-31 19:58:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 26,638
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20120824
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nickstar777/pseuds/Nickstar777
Summary: A new student arrives at Francoise Dupont High School, Zach Petiot, a well known teenage actor, who quickly makes friends with most of the students and has no problem putting Chloe in her place. Meanwhile, Ladybug and Cat Noir gain a new member for their team, Nightwolf, the weilder of the long lost Wolf Miraculous!





	1. Frightmare

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zach Petiot, a teen actor, moves to Paris and transfers to Marinette and Adrien's school. Meanwhile, Ondine's brother, Alexandre, is made fun of for his fear of spiders, allowing him to be akumatized into Frightmare, who can make people see their biggest fears.

It was way too early in the morning when Hawkmoth brought out his newest akuma, thankfully, it was an easy win for everyone's favourite superhero duo.

"No more evil doing for you, little akuma" said Ladybug as she opened her yo-yo

"Time to de-evilize!"

Ladybug captured the purple akuma in her yo-yo.

"Gotcha!"

Ladybug released the akuma, now pruified into a white butterfly.

"Bye-bye, little butterfly" said Ladybug

Only one thing left to do, Ladybug took her lucky charm she used to defeat the akuma and threw it in the air.

_ **"MIRACULOUS LADYBUG!"** _

An explosion of pink energy dispersed into a swarm of ladybugs that flew around Paris, repairing all the damage caused by Hawkmoth's latest akuma, and reverting the akuma back to normal.

"Pound it!" said Ladybug and Cat Noir, fist bumping over a job well done.

With Hawkmoth's latest akuma defeated, Ladybug returned home, reaching her bedroom just in time before her miraculous timed out.

"Cutting it a little close, Marinette" said Tikki

"Sorry Tikki, but, at least this one was quick, so I won't be late for school this time" said Marinette

==Later==

Marinette and Alya had just entered Francoise Dupont High School.

"Sorry for missing our study session last night, Alya, some stuff came up" said Marinette, not completely lying, some stuff had come up, what she didn't say was that stuff was one of Hawkmoth's other akumas.

"It's okay, girl, I understand, besides, we can study together later tonight" said Alya

"Of course" said Marinette

The girls headed up to their classroom, where they saw someone sitting at the front of the classroom, he had black, spiked hair with brown eyes and was dressed in a red T-Shirt with a silver wave design, black jeans and white sneakers with red designs, he was also wearing a leather bracer on his left wrist and a black sleeveless jacket. Marinette thought he kinda looked familiar.

"Hey there, you new here or something?" asked Alya, greeting the guy.

The guy looked towards the girls.

"Yeah, I am, nice to meet you, I'm Zach Petiot" said the guy

That name seemed to ring a bell, now Marinette recognized him.

"Wait, you're Zacharie Petiot, the teen actor" said Marinette

Zach chuckled at Marinette.

"Yes, I am, nice to meet a fan"

"I'm Marinette Dupain-Cheng, this is Alya Cesaire"

"Lovely to meet you both" said Zach

"Just a word of warning, you should probably pick somewhere else to sit" said Marinette

"Why?" asked Zach

"EXCUSE ME!" said someone

The three looked to the entrance to the classroom to see Chloe Bourgeoise and her sidekick, Sabrina Raincomprix.

"That's why" said Alya

"Excuse you for what?" asked Zach

"You need to move, that is my seat" said Chloe

"Nah, I kinda like it here, I'm gonna stay" said Zach

"I DON'T THINK SO!" said Chloe

"Look, blondie, just sit somewhere else and use the time before class starts to see if you can get yourself a new personality, preferably one that's less irritating" said Zach

Marinette, Alya and everyone in class that heard Zach's comment let out a collective chuckle.

"Why you...I'm warning you, my daddy's the mayor of this town" said Chloe

"And my dad's a high ranking member of the Court of Cassation, so what?" asked Zach

Before Chloe could respond, Miss Bustier came in to start class and introduce Zach to everyone, Chloe had to change seats.

==Later==

Marinette went to the library to find a history book when she saw Zach sitting at one of the tables on a laptop with headphones. She decided to walk up to him.

"Hey Zach" said Marinette

Zach looked towards Marinette and took off the headphones.

"Oh hey, uh...Marinette, right?" asked Zach

"Yeah" said Marinette

"What you up to?" asked Zach

"Looking for a history book to study for a test, you?" asked Marinette

"Researching Ladybug and Cat Noir" said Zach

"You have an interest in Ladybug and Cat Noir?" asked Marinette

"Doesn't everybody? You ever met them?" asked Zach

Marinette started to get nervous, not knowing how to answer.

"Uh, I'm...familiar...with them" said Marinette

"I asked if you had ever met them, I'm pretty sure everyone in all of France is 'familiar' with them" said Zach

"Well...I met Cat Noir before, but I can't say I've ever actually 'met' Ladybug, um...I better find that book" said Marinette, before walking away

"That was weird" said someone

"Yeah, it was kinda weird" replied Zach

==Meanwhile==

Kim was heading to his next class when he passed by someone, he recognized the shorter kid as Alexandre, Ondine's brother. Ever since Kim and Ondine started dating, Kim had developed a friendship with Alexandre.

"Hey, Alexandre, what you up to?" asked Kim

"Oh, hey Kim, I'm on my way to my next class, I was just heading to the locker room to grab my inhaler, I must have left it there by accident" said Alexandre

"Okay, see you later" said Kim

Kim went off to his classroom while Alexandre went to the locker room, he went to his own locker and got out his inhaler. Alexandre's asthma wasn't that bad, but he always liked to keep it on hand, just in case. Alexandre went to his science class when he saw a faunarium on the teacher's desk, filled with spiders. Alexandre let out a loud scream and tumbled back. Several other students couldn't help but laugh at Alexandre's reaction.

"Alexandre, what is the matter with you?" asked Ms. Mendeleiev

"I'm sorry Ms. It's just that...I am terrified of spiders" said Alexandre

"Hahaha, what a baby, you're scared of those tiny things?" asked Nicole Bouvier, a blone haired classmate

"Hey, it's not funny, besides, everyone's scared of something" said Alexandre

"Yeah right, only little kids get scared" said another student

"THAT'S NOT TRUE!" screamed Alexandre

The stress of the situation started triggering Alexandre's asthma, he pulled out his inhaler while the class kept laughing at him. Having enough of being humiliated, Alexandre ran out of the room.

"ALEXANDRE, Where you you think you're going? Get back here and take your seat" said Ms. Mendeleiev

==Hawkmoth's Lair==

"Fear and humiliation, 2 of the perfect ingredients for villainy" said Hawkmoth

A white butterfly flew into Hawkmoth's hand, he covered it with his other hand as it was engulfed in a dark energy, turning it black and purple.

"Fly away, my little akuma, and evilize him" said Hawkmoth

==School==

Alexandre sat under the stairs when the akuma flew into his inhaler. A purple outline started shining infront of his eyes.

"_Frightmare, I am Hawkmoth, people see your fears as weakness, but in reality, everyone fears something, I can give you the chance to show others what it feels like to be afraid, all I ask in return is you bring me the miraculous of Ladybug and Cat Noir_" said Hawkmoth

"All of Paris shall know fear" said Alexandre

A dark aura enveloped Alexandre, changing his appearance to that of a rotting scarecrow, his casual clothes changing to torn up old rags, his inhaler changing into some sort of gas canister.

==Ms. Mendeleiev's Classroom==

The class started without Alexandre when the door burst open and Frightmare entered.

"Who are you? What is the meaning of this?" asked Ms. Mendeleiev

"Ms. Mendeleiev, always so confident, but what is it that makes you quiver?" asked Frightmare

Frightmare raised his gas canister and enveloped Ms. Mendeleiev in a green gas, when the gas cleared, Ms. Mendeleiev's eyes turned bright red and in her mind, all she saw was herself atop a high cliff.

"NO! GET ME DOWN! GET ME DOWN!" screamed Ms. Mendeleiev

"Get you down? Appears you have a fear of heights" said Frightmare

Frightmare turned to the rest of the class.

"So...who's next?" asked Frightmare

==Hawkmoth's Lair==

"Perfect, Ladybug and Cat Noir should show up any minute now" said Hawkmoth

==Meanwhile==

Marinette exited the library when she heard screaming and ran to investigate, she saw the student's from Ms. Mendeleiev's class running from their classroom.

"What's going on?" asked Marinette

Marinette's question was then answered when she saw an akumatized villain exit the classroom. Marinette quickly ran to the bathroom and let Tikki out of her purse.

"Hawkmoth's brought out another akuma, already?" asked Tikki

"Seems like it..." said Marinette

** _"TIKKI! SPOTS ON!"_ **

_Marinette brushed her hair out of the way as Tikki flew into Marinette's earring._

_Marinette waved her hands infront of her face to materialize her mask._

_Marinette stretched out one arm as her suit started to form from her neck to her toes._

_Marinette's Yo-Yo materialized around Marinette's waist._

_Marinette posed as her transformation into Ladybug was complete._

==Meanwhile==

Adrien Agreste heard the commotion and rushed to find the cause, when he saw Frightmare, he quickly hid in the locker room and let Plagg out.

"This doesn't look good, we gotta stop that akuma, time to transform..." said Adrien

** _"PLAGG! CLAWS OUT!"_ **

_Adrien's ring changed from silver to black before Plagg flew into the ring as a green pawprint appeared on the ring._

_Adrien waved his hand infront of his face as his mask materialized, before running his hands over his hair, forming his cat ears._

_Adrien spread his arms as his catsuit formed on his body. Adrien's belt and Bo Staff also materialized around his waist._

_After performing 2 scratch taunts, Adrien posed as his transformation into Cat Noir was complete._

Frightmare kept chasing students when he caught up with Nicole Bouvier, one of the students that made fun of him in the classroom.

"Let's find out your fear, shall we?" asked Frightmare

Frightmare raised his gas canister, but before he could use it, it was suddenly knocked from his hand by Ladybug's yo-yo.

"I'm afraid that won't be happening" said Ladybug

"Lovely pun, milady" said Cat Noir, as he jumped in next to Ladybug

"_Ladybug and Cat Noir, bring me their miraculous_" said Hawkmoth

"I wonder what superheroes are afraid of" said Frightmare

Frightmare grabbed his gas canister, while he was distracted, Nicole ran off.

"Great, you let her get away" said Frightmare

Nicole ran to hide in the library, where Zach was still hanging out.

"Are you okay? What's happening?" asked Zach

"There's an akuma in the school" said Nicole

Zach went wide-eyed.

"You hide, I'll keep an eye out" said Zach

Nicole went to hide.

"Is it time yet?" asked someone

"Not yet" whispered Zach in response.

Meanwhile, Ladybug and Cat Noir fought against Frightmare, a couple times, Frightmare tried using his gas canister on the heroes, but they were able to dodge his gas.

"The akuma's got to be in that gas canister" said Ladybug

"But if we get too close to it, he'll gas us" said Cat Noir

"Leave that to me" said Ladybug

_ **"LUCKY CHARM!"** _

_Ladybug flung her Yo-Yo high into the air. Energy shot out from the yo-yo before creating a salt shaker._

"Salt?" asked Ladybug

"Think you can defeat me with seasoning?" asked Frightmare

Frightmare charged towards Ladybug and kicked her in the stomach, sending her back. Cat Noir tried to attack Frightmare, but found himself thrown against a wall.

"I'll deal with you two later, for now, I have some business to take care of" said Frightmare, before heading to the library

Frightmare barged through the door to the library, only to recieve a dropkick from Zach.

"I don't think so, akuma" said Zach

"_Zach, what are you doing?_" thought Ladybug

Zach proceeded to beat down Frightmare, but when Zach went for a kick, Frightmare grabbed Zach's leg and threw him against a wall.

"Ow!" said Zach

Frightmare grabbed Zach by the shirt collar and pressed him against the wall.

"You shouldn't have done that!" said Frightmare

Frightmare sprayed the gas into Zach's face, Zach's vision changed, everyone he could see was now wearing a large amount of bright and colourful make-up and he could hear circus music.

"No! NOOOOO!" screamed Zach in fear

Frightmare let go of Zach, who curled up in a foetal position on the floor. Frightmare went into the library and was followed by Ladybug and Cat Noir. Ladybug and Cat Noir looked around but couldn't find Frightmare.

"Ladybug, Cat Noir" said someone

The heroes looked to see Nicole Bouvier hiding behind the librarian's desk.

"You're the girl Frightmare was after before, what does he want?" asked Ladybug

"It's one of my classmates, our class made fun of him for beind scared of spiders, I guess he got really upset" said Nicole

"You could say that!" said Frightmare, from behind Nicole, before spraying the gas at her.

As Nicole's eyes went red, she saw water leaking from the walls, she could feel the room filling with water. She screamed in fear.

"Let's get outta here" said Cat Noir

** _"CATACLYSM!"_ **

_Cat Noir raised his hand above his head as his hand was infused with negative energy._

Cat Noir placed his hand on the ground, causing the floor to crumble and Frightmare to fall into the hole. As Ladybug and Cat Noir ran to one of the classroom, Frightmare escaped, but luckily, the Cataclysm had given them enough time to hide.

"I think now would be a good time to think of a plan" said Cat Noir

"Right..."

Ladybug observed the area and noticed the salt, Cat Noir's staff and Frightmare's face and gas canister.

"I have an idea" said Ladybug

Meanwhile, Frightmare entered the classrooms looking for Ladybug and Cat Noir.

"Hey Frightmare!" said Cat Noir, who had appeared in the middle of the courtyard with Ladybug

"It's been a gas, but I fear it's over, what a cat-astrophe" said Cat Noir

"You should really be put on a limit" said Ladybug

Frightmare charged towards the heroes, but when he got too close, Ladybug threw a handful of salt into his face, slightly blinding him.

"AGH!" screamed Frightmare

"Now, Cat Noir" said Ladybug

Cat Noir charged towards Frightmare, with Cat Noir using his bo staff to beat down the villain. When Frightmare was able to see properly again, he tried to throw a punch at Cat Noir, but Cat Noir ducked underneath it.

"You pesky alley cat!" said Frightmare

Frightmare raised his gas canister to use it on Cat Noir, but it wasn't working, he looked to see that Cat Noir had jammed the gas cansiter with his staff when he ducked the punch. Cat Noir kicked the gas canister out of Frightmare's hand. Ladybug caught the gas canister and broke it over her knee, releasing the akuma inside.

"No more evil doing for you, little akuma" said Ladybug as she opened her yo-yo

"Time to de-evilize!"

Ladybug captured the purple akuma in her yo-yo.

"Gotcha!"

Ladybug released the akuma, now pruified into a white butterfly.

"Bye-bye, little butterfly" said Ladybug, before throwing the Lucky Charm into the air.

_ **"MIRACULOUS LADYBUG!"** _

An explosion of pink energy dispersed into a swarm of ladybugs that flew around the school, repairing all the damage caused by Frightmare, and reverting him back to normal.

"Pound It!" said Ladybug and Cat Noir, fist bumping over a job well done.

"What...what happened?!" asked Alexandre

"It's a long story" said Cat Noir

Ladybug heard her earrings beeping.

"Which we don't have time to tell, better get going, bug out!" said Ladybug, before swinging away on her yo-yo.

==Hawkmoth's Lair==

"You may have won this time, Ladybug and Cat Noir, but rest assured, you will feel fear when I take your miraculous, I won't stop until I do!" said Hawkmoth

==Francoise Dupont==

After being deakumatized, Alexandre returned to his classroom where he was approached by Nicole Bouvier.

"Hey, Alexandre, I wanted to say sorry, for how I acted today" said Nicole

"Don't worry, Nicole, it's alright" said Alexandre

"No, it's not, you were right, everyone has fears, we shouldn't have made fun of you for yours" said Nicole

"Nicole, don't worry about it, I'm sorry for what happened while I was akumatized" said Alexandre

"I deserved it, but, it's behind us now" said Nicole, holding out her hand for a handshake, which Alexandre accepted.


	2. Rosethorne

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette's class is going on a field trip, Meanwhile, Marie, a woman who wants to help save the environment, is constantly made fun of, allowing her to be akumatized into Rosethorne, who has the power to control plants. When Ladybug and Cat Noir are almost defeated, they are saved by a new ally.

Marinette hurried to get ready when she woke up in the morning, which confused Tikki.

"Marinette, why are you in such a rush? School doesn't start for another hour" said Tikki

"Normally, that's true, Tikki, but today, our class is going on a field trip and we have to get to school 30 minutes early, and I can't find my permission slip" said Marinette

Marinette continued to search her room for the permission slip, but found it nowhere, so she decided to ask her parents if they had seen it.

"Hey Mom, Dad, have you two seen my..." said Marinette

Sabine stood at the bottom of the stairs with the permission slip in hand.

"Thanks mom, I was really worried there" said Marinette

"Don't worry about it, Marinette, have fun today" said Sabine

"I will" said Marinette

Sabine handed Marinette the permission slip and gave her daughter a kiss on the cheek before Marinette rushed out and headed to school. She got their in time as students were just boarding the bus.

"Ah, Marinette, you made it, I trust you have your permission slip" said Miss Bustier

"Right here, Miss Bustier" said Marinette, handing over the permission slip

Miss Bustier took the permission slip and let Marinette on the bus. Marinette took her seat next to Alya.

"Wow Marinette, actually on time for once, I'm impressed" said Alya

"Hey, I wasn't going to miss the field trip" said Marinette

The sound of a loud yawn caught the girls attention and Zach sat on the seat behind them.

"What's up with you? Stay up late with your Ladybug and Cat Noir research?" joked Marinette

"Nah, my agent sent over a script for an audition he booked for me, I was up all night reading my lines" said Zach

"Oh, cool, what's the audition?" asked Marinette

"Basically, it's a thriller about a guy who goes around convincing people to do bad things" said Zach

"Sounds interesting" said Alya

"Yeah, it does" said Adrien, who took his seat across from Alya and Marinette, just before Nino sat next to him.

"Yeah, I'm excited" said Zach

"Oh, by the way, if you ever find out anything about Ladybug and Cat Noir, be sure to let me know" said Alya

"Only if you promise to tell me what you know" said Zach

"Deal" said Alya

At that point, Chloe and Sabrina entered the bus.

"Hey Chloe, excited for the school trip?" asked Adrien

"Of course not, we're going to a garden, there's nothing to do" said Chloe

"Have some faith, Chloe, you might enjoy yourself" said Sabrina

"No, I can tell, it's going to be the most boring day ever, I will bet my reputation on it" said Chloe

"You can't do that, it's a 5 euro minimum" said Zach

Chloe glared at Zach before taking her seat. Once everyone was on, the bus took off to the Jardin des Tuileries. The bus eventually arrived and the field trip began. Meanwhile, at the entrance to the garden, Marie Pine, a woman in her mid 20s with long blonde hair, dressed in casual clothing was trying to collect signatures for her petition to save the environment.

"Excuse me sir, could you spare 5 minutes to talk about the environment?" she asked to a man passing by

The man only ignored her and continued walking, Marie was upset about this, she had been trying to collect signatures for a week, but only had one signature, her own.

"Does no one care about the planet?" she asked herself

Marie placed her clipboard into her satchel, tucked her pencil behind her ear and entered the garden.

==Hawkmoth's Lair==

"An Eco-Warrior, fighting a lone battle to save the planet, well, she can count on me and my akumas to lend her a helping hand" said Hawkmoth

A white butterfly flew into Hawkmoth's hand, he covered it with his other hand as it was engulfed in a dark energy, turning it black and purple.

"Go forth, my little akuma, and evilize her" said Hawkmoth

==Jardin des Tuileries==

Marie continued walked around the garden, when the akuma fluttered into her pencil. A purple outline started shining infront of her eyes.

"_Rosethorne, I am Hawkmoth, for years, people have been ruining the planet with pollution and deforestation, you wish to protect the environment, but you can't do it alone and no one is willing to help you, well now I can give you the power to let nature fight back against those that seem out to destroy it, all I ask in return is you obtain Ladybug and Cat Noir's miraculous_" said Hawkmoth

"For mother nature, I'll do anything" said Marie

A dark aura enveloped Marie and transformed her, her skin now a light green, her hair now red and styled to resemble rose petals, her clothes now a gown made from leaves and vines. Her pencil had now changed into what appeared to be a wand made from vines.

==Meanwhile==

Marinette and the rest of the class were enjoying the field trip when they heard the sounds of people screaming.

"What's going on?" asked Marinette

The class looked to see vines spreading across the garden and people running in fear.

"That doesn't look good" said Adrien

"Let's get outta here" said Alya

The entire class started running from the vines, Marinette ran to find a hiding spot and when she was sure no one could see her, she released Tikki from her purse.

"What's Hawkmoth up to this time?" asked Tikki

"I don't know, but whatever it is, he won't get away with it..." said Marinette

** _"TIKKI! SPOTS ON!"_ **

_Marinette brushed her hair out of the way as Tikki flew into Marinette's earring. Both of Marinette's earrings turned red and 5 black spots donned the surface of the earrings._

_Marinette covered her eyes before moving her hands away to afix her mask._

_Marinette stretched out one arm as a bright pink light pasted Marinette's suit onto her._

_Marinette's Yo-Yo materialized around Marinette's waist._

_With a little dance and a high kick, Marinette posed as her transformation into Ladybug was complete._

Meanwhile, Adrien found his own hiding space and released Plagg from his shirt.

"Can't Hawkmoth just go a couple days without akumatizing someone?" asked Plagg

"Time to transform..." said Adrien

** _"PLAGG! CLAWS OUT!"_ **

_Adrien's ring changed from silver to black before Plagg flew into the ring as a green pawprint appeared on the ring. Adrien shot his hand above his head._

_Adrien waved his hand infront of his face as his mask materialized, before running his hands over his hair, forming his cat ears._

_Adrien spread his arms as his catsuit manifested from the center of his chest to his hands and feet. Adrien's belt and Bo Staff also materialized around his waist._

_After performing 2 scratch taunts, Adrien posed as his transformation into Cat Noir was complete._

Cat Noir headed to the source of the vines and encountered Ladybug.

"Milady, any ideas on the akuma?" asked Cat Noir

"No, I just got here" said Ladybug

"Then I say we make this quick, I was having a nice day" said Cat Noir

"Sounds good" said Ladybug

Ladybug and Cat Noir rushed to find the source of the vines, unaware that someone was watching them. Ladybug and Cat Noir arrived at the Grand Bassin Rond, where they saw the akumatized victim sitting on a throne made of flowers.

"Ah, Ladybug and Cat Noir, you got here quicker than I thought, allow me to introduce myself, I am Rosethorne" said the akuma

"What do you think you're doing?" asked Ladybug

"Trying to make the world a better place, if humans won't learn to respect nature, I'll make sure they fear it instead" said Rosethorne

"I'm all for green, it's my second favourite colour, but this is no way of going about it" said Cat Noir

"You say that, but you don't mean it, you two may believe you are protectors, but you don't see the big picture, all humans do is destroying the environment, the polar ice caps are melting, species are endangered and who knows what else? So now, mankind shall suffer the wrath of mother nature, starting with you two" said Rosethorne

Rosethorne raised her wand into the sky and her power started to make seeds rain down. The seeds quickly grew into Venus Fly Traps.

"The akuma must be in that wand" said Ladybug

"Then let's make this quick, milady" said Cat Noir

The heroes started fighting Rosethorne's fly traps, during this time, someone was watching the fight from behind a tree.

"Is it time yet?" asked someone

"I believe so" said someone else

While Ladybug and Cat Noir were distracted with Rosethorne's plants, Rosethorne used her wand to manipulate some vines. Once Ladybug and Cat Noir had defeated Rosethorne's plants, they felt something wrap around their ankles, before they had time to react, Rosethrone's vines lifted them up and more vines wrapped around their arms, waists and necks.

"Cat Noir, quick, use your Cataclysm to get us out of these" said Ladybug

"I can't, milady, I could call on my power, but I can't move my arm or wrist to use it" said Cat Noir

"_Brilliant work, Rosethorne, now, take their miraculous_" said Hawkmoth

"Of course, Hawkmoth" said Rosethorne

Rosethorne raised her wand and directed the vines to quickly take the heroe's miraculous, Ladybug and Cat Noir closed their eyes and waited for the inevitable, but it never came. Opening their eyes again, they saw the ends of the vines had been cut off and were now laying on the ground, the heroes looked up and saw someone in front of them. He was wearing a purple skintight bodysuit with black designs around the waist, on the shoulders, elbows, knees and collar, black gloves with some sort of gauntlet on his right wrist and a bracelet on his left, he was also wearing black boots and a black belt, he also had black spiked hair with purple highlights, purple wolf ears and silver eyes, he also wore a purple domino mask.

"Who is this guy?" asked Rosethorne

"Don't know, we've never seen him before" said Cat Noir

"Allow me to introduce myself to you all, my name is Nightwolf, keeper of the Wolf Miraculous" said the guy.

"_Wolf Miraculous?_" thought Ladybug

"_Rosethorne, it seems we have a guest, take him out, and bring his miraculous with Ladybug and Cat Noir's_" said Hawkmoth

Rosethorne used her abilities to send a barrage of vines towards Nightwolf, but he extended 3 blades from his gauntlet and cut the vines as fast as Rosethorne could command.

"Milady, you didn't happen to give out another miraculous to someone else? Did you?" asked Cat Noir

"No, I didn't even know there WAS a Wolf Miraculous" said Ladybug

Cat Noir turned his attention to the purple clad hero, who had just cut down the last of Rosethorne's vines.

"Hey, Nightwolf, think you can get us out of this bind?" asked Cat Noir

"No problem" said Nightwolf

Nightwolf used his gauntlet to slice up the vines restraining Ladybug and Cat Noir.

"Thanks for that, Nightwolf" said Ladybug

"No problem, Ladybug"

"Wait, where'd Rosethorne go?" asked Cat Noir

The heroes looked around, seeing that Rosethorne had disappeared.

"No worries, I can find her" said Nightwolf

** _"INSTINCT!"_ **

_Nightwolf's wolf ears perked up, as his eyes started to focus and his senses increased._

Nightwolf placed his hand on the ground, feeling the vibrations.

"This way!" said Nightwolf, leading the way

==Meanwhile==

Rosethorne was walking through the streets of Paris creating chaos with her plants, she had reached the Pont Des Arts bridge when the heroes caught up with her.

"Where do you think you're going, Rosethorne?" asked Ladybug

"How did you three find me so quickly?" asked Rosethorne

"Didn't you know? Wolves are keen hunters" said Nightwolf

"I think it's about time we ended this" said Cat Noir

** _"LUCKY CHARM!"_ **

_Ladybug flung her Yo-Yo high into the air. Energy shot out from the yo-yo before creating a Dewar Flask full of Liquid Nitrogen._

"Liquid nitrogen?" asked Ladybug

"I thought your lucky charm was supposed to be household items" said Cat Noir

"I keep liquid nitrogen in my house, it works great for making homemade ice cream" said Nightwolf

Ladybug observed her surroundings, noticing the liquid nitrogen and Rosethorne's wand.

"I got it" said Ladybug

Rosethorne used her wand to summon another plant, but this was was different from the previous ones, the leaves had 3 almond shaped leaflets.

"Oh no" said Cat Noir

"You know what kind of plant that is?" asked Nightwolf

"Yeah, Poison Ivy" said Cat Noir

"Nightwolf, Cat Noir, you try to get past the ivy and distract Rosethorne, I have an idea to get the akuma" said Ladybug

"On it" said Cat Noir and Nightwolf

Nightwolf and Cat Noir rushed towards the plant, as Rosethorne used her wand to direct the ivy to attack, the heroes made sure to avoid making contact with the plant. Meanwhile, Ladybug unscrewed the cap from the liquid nitrogen canister. Unfortunately, Rosethorne noticed and used the ivy to attack Ladybug, luckily, Ladybug was able to dodge the attack.

"Guys, a little help here" said Ladybug

"Cat Noir, can't you use your Cataclysm on that thing?" asked Nightwolf

"Probably, but touching poison ivy results in a very irritating rash" said Cat Noir

"You got a better idea?" asked Nightwolf

"Good point..." said Cat Noir

_ **"CATACLYSM!"** _

_Cat Noir raised his hand above his head as his hand was infused with negative energy._

Cat Noir grabbed hold of the poison ivy leaves and the plant withered away into nothing.

"Thanks Cat Noir, but won't you get a rash?" asked Ladybug

"Small price to pay" said Cat Noir

Rosethorne cast a vine that knocked the liquid nitrogen out of Ladybug's hands and into the air, Ladybug smiled before using her yo-yo to grab the canister and throw it towards Rosethorne, causing the liquid nitrogen to go all over Rosethorne, but this seemed to have no effect on the villainess.

"Did you really think that would work?" asked Rosethrone, lifting up her want, but the wand started cracking

"Actually, it did work" said Ladybug

"What's happening?" asked Rosethrone

"A little trick I learned in science class, coat a plant in liquid nitrogen and the plant becomes quite brittle" said Ladybug

"Ah, very smart, Milady" said Cat Noir

Without another word, the wand broke in Rosethorne's hand and the akuma fluttered out.

"No more evil doing for you, little akuma" said Ladybug as she opened her yo-yo

"Time to de-evilize!"

Ladybug captured the purple akuma in her yo-yo.

"Gotcha!"

Ladybug released the akuma, now pruified into a white butterfly.

"Bye-bye, little butterfly" said Ladybug, before throwing the Lucky Charm into the air.

_ **"MIRACULOUS LADYBUG!"** _

An explosion of pink energy dispersed into a swarm of ladybugs that flew around the city, repairing all the damage caused by Rosethorne, and reverting her back to normal.

"Huh? What happened?" asked Marie

"Pound It!" said Ladybug and Cat Noir, fist bumping over a job well done.

"Thanks for the help, Night..." said Ladybug

Ladybug looked around to see Nightwolf had disappeared.

"...wolf"

"Where'd he go?" asked Cat Noir

"His miraculous must have been running out" said Ladybug

"Think we'll see him again?" asked Cat Noir

"I wouldn't bet against it" said Ladybug

==Meanwhile==

Nightwolf rushed along the rooftops, stopping just before his miraculous timed out and a purple kwami, resembling a wolf, floated infront of him.

"You did great out there Zach" said the kwami

Zach Petiot smiled at the kwami and gently stroked it's chin.

"Thanks Howll, it felt good to work alongside Ladybug and Cat Noir, now, come one, let's get back to the class, before they wonder where I am" said Zach

With that, Zach ran to return to his class.

==The Next Day==

Marinette, Adrien, Alya, Nino & Zach had all agreed to hang out at the Place des Vosges. Adrien had his hand bandaged up.

"So, you were making some hot chocolate when you spilled some of it and burned your hand?" asked Nino

"Yeah, it was a total accident, but I should be fine in a couple days" said Adrien

Adrien looked to one of the park benches where he saw Marie sitting with her petition in hand. Adrien walked up to her.

"Excuse me" said Adrien

Marie looked up at him.

"You're Adrien Agreste, the model" said Marie

"Yes, I am, listen, I was on a school trip yesterday to the Jardin des Tuileries, where I saw you with your petition about protecting the environment, but I was too busy to sign" said Adrien

"You want to sign my petition?" asked Marie

"Yes, the environment needs to be taken care of, mother nature is very important" said Adrien

Marie smiled and handed the clipboard and pencil to Adrien. Adrien happily signed his name. At that point, Zach walked over, took the clipboard, and signed his own name.

"Zach Petiot?" asked Marie

"Yeah, nice to meet you" said Zach

"Hey, save some room for us" said Marinette

Zach handed the petition to Marinette, who signed her name, before being joined by Alya and Nino, who signed their names too, before handing the petiton back to Marie.

"Thank you, this means alot to me, I was starting to think people didn't care about the environment" said Marie

"Well, now you know you've got our support" said Zach


	3. Eccho

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette asks Master Fu about the Wolf Miraculous, and he tells her about how there were some Miraculous that were thought to be destroyed due to their kwamis being corrupt. Hawkmoth's latest akuma can duplicate themselves, making them a one man army.

It was Saturday morning when Marinette entered Fu's massage shop, the had told him about Rosethorne and about Nightwolf.

"The Wolf Miraculous?" asked Master Fu

"Yes, but how is that possible? There couldn't be more Miraculous, there's no more room in the Miracle Box, and there was no mention of it in the Grimoire" said Marinette

"That's because the Wolf Miraculous was long thought destroyed, before the book was written" said Master Fu

"Destroyed?"

"Yes, Marinette, when the Miraculous were created, there were some Kwamis that were corrupt, they were too dangerous and their Miraculous were destroyed, or so I thought" said Master Fu

"Oh, now I remember, the Wolf Miraculous is inhabited by Howll, the Kwami of Intuition" said Tikki

"But if Nightwolf's Kwami is corrupt, wouldn't that mean Nightwolf is a villain?" asked Marinette

"Not necessarily, remember, Nooroo is not corrupt, but Hawkmoth uses him for villainy, same with Duusu and Mayura, it's not the Kwamis in control, it's the user, Howll may be corrupt, but that doesn't mean Nightwolf will be too" said Master Fu

"Tikki, who were the other corrupt Kwamis?" asked Marinette

"I can't remember, all I know is that it's something best forgotten, at least, for now" said Tikki

"Marinette, next time you encounter Nightwolf, you must bring him here, I must speak with him" said Master Fu

"But how? I can't come here as Ladybug, and I can't let him see me as Marinette"

"You CAN come here as Ladybug, if you're not squeamish" said Master Fu

"Huh?" asked Marinette

==Agreste Manor, Later that Day==

Gabriel Agreste was in his atelier when Nathalie entered.

"Sir, Adrien just called, he just finished his fencing lesson, but there is some traffic, so he will be late returning home" said Nathalie

Gabriel gave no response.

"Uh, sir?"

"Why?" asked Gabriel

"Why what, sir?" asked Nathalie

"Why does nothing work? No matter what I try, Ladybug and Cat Noir are always able to overcome the odds, them an their allies, along with this new guy, Nightwolf, what am I doing wrong?" asked Gabriel

"Fear not, sir, you'll get another chance" said Nathalie

At that point, felt something on his chest, he removed his scarf to show the butterfly miraculous glowing.

"Yes, I will" said Gabriel

==Hawkmoth's Lair==

"I sense a strong emotion, a perfect candidate for my akumas" said Hawkmoth

A white butterfly flew into Hawkmoth's hand, he covered it with his other hand as it was engulfed in a dark energy, turning it black and purple.

"Go forth, my evil akuma, and evilize him" said Hawkmoth

==The Louvre==

Marinette, Adrien and Alya were at the Louvre together for a school project, they were asked to select a piece of art within the Louvre and write a report on the history of it.

"Maybe we should go with the Mona Lisa" said Alya

"No, the Mona Lisa is too obvious" said Marinette

"Yeah, let's go for something a bit more obscure" said Adrien

The group's conversation was interrupted when they heard screaming down the hall, they looked to see a man wearing an orange bodysuit with white designs on the shoudlers, hands and down the legs, with glowing white eyes and a black belt. He was destroying the displays.

"An akuma? Now?" asked Marinette

"I've gotta get this for the Ladyblog" said Alya, taking out her phone

"I think a better idea would be to hide" said Adrien

The group rushed to find somewhere to hide, but Marinette slipped away to get to a nearby broom closet and take Tikki out of her purse.

"Time to transform..." said Marinette

_ **"TIKKI! SPOTS ON!"** _

_Marinette brushed her hair out of the way as Tikki flew into Marinette's earring. Both of Marinette's earrings turned red and 5 black spots donned the surface of the earrings._

_Marinette covered her eyes before moving her hands away to afix her mask._

_Marinette stretched out one arm as a bright pink light pasted Marinette's suit onto her._

_Marinette's Yo-Yo materialized around Marinette's waist._

_With a little dance and a high kick, Marinette posed as her transformation into Ladybug was complete._

Meanwhile, Adrien reached the Pharoh Exhibit when he noticed Alya and Marinette weren't with him.

"Where are the girls?" asked Plagg, from Adrien's pocket

"Alya must have stayed behind to get footage for the Ladyblog" said Adrien

"And Marinette?"

"She probably found somewhere else to hide" said Adrien

Adrien looked around, making sure he wouldn't be seen.

"Time to transform..."

** _"PLAGG! CLAWS OUT!"_ **

_Adrien's ring changed from silver to black before Plagg flew into the ring as a green pawprint appeared on the ring. Adrien shot his hand above his head._

_Adrien waved his hand infront of his face as his mask materialized, before running his hands over his hair, forming his cat ears._

_Adrien spread his arms as his catsuit manifested from the center of his chest to his hands and feet. Adrien's belt and Bo Staff also materialized around his waist._

_After performing 2 scratch taunts, Adrien posed as his transformation into Cat Noir was complete._

The akumatized villain continued to destroy the displays and the artworks. He reached for the Mona Lisa when a yo-yo wrapped around his wrist.

"Keep away from the painting" said Ladybug

"Ah, Ladybug, allow me to introduce myself, my name is Eccho" said the akuma

"Any reason for the artistic vandelism?" asked Ladybug

"A very simple reason, Ladybug, karma" said Eccho

Eccho pulled back his arm, pulling Ladybug closer to him and allowing her to knock her back with a punch.

"Didn't your mother tell you never to hit a lady?" asked Cat Noir, before dropkicking Eccho

"Lovely timing, kitty" said Ladybug, sarcastically

"Lovely seeing you, Milady, as always" said Cat Noir, helping Ladybug back to her feet

As Eccho stood up, he started laughing.

"What's so funny?" asked Ladybug

"It's good that you two got here so quickly, now I don't have to waste time taking your miraculous for Hawkmoth" said Eccho

"There is no way you're taking our miraculous" said Cat Noir

"I believe I will, after all, there's no way you two can win" said Eccho

"How? It's 2 against 1" said Cat Noir

"Numbers can be deceiving" said Eccho

Eccho ran off and ran behind a wall.

"And so can I" said Eccho, now appearing behind Ladybug and Cat Noir, before running off

"How did he do that?" asked Cat Noir

"I don't know, but let's catch him" said Ladybug

==Meanwhile==

Zach Petiot was in his bedroom, Howll was sitting on Zach's desk, eating small pieces of meat.

"How does such a little guy eat so much?" asked Zach

"Hey, I've seen you eat more than me" said Howll

"I'm still growing" said Zach

The actor and his kwami shared a laugh, before being interrupted by a news report on the TV.

"_Don't be bemused, it's just the news! Nadja Chamack here to report an attack on the Louvre, sources report that Ladybug and Cat Noir are already on the scene_" said Nadja

"Hawkmoth's akuma?" asked Howll

"I'd bet so" said Zach

Zach removed his bracer, revealing the bracelet underneath.

** _"HOWLL! FULL MOON RISE!"_ **

_Howll flew into Zach's bracelet. His Gauntlet formed on his other arm._

_Zach snapped his fingers infront of his face as his mask materialized._

_Zach ran his fingers through his hair, causing his black, spiked hair to develop purple highlights and a set of wolf ears to form on his head._

_Zach raised his right arm above his head and extened the retractable claws in his Gauntlet, before driving the blades into the ground as his suit formed on his body._

_Zach waved his arms infront of his waist as his belt materialized._

_Zach posed as his transformation into Nightwolf was complete._

Nightwolf rushed to the roof of his house and started running along the rooftops to get to the Louvre. On the way, he was spotted by Officer Raincomprix, who was across the street.

"Hey, you're that new hero that witnesses saw during that plant akuma incident" said Officer Raincomprix

"Yes, I am, my name's Nightwolf"

"You heading off to stop the akuma?" asked Roger

"Yes sir, I'm on my way to the Louvre right now" said Nightwolf

"No, the akuma's at the bank" said Roger

"The bank?"

==The Louvre==

Ladybug and Cat Noir chased Eccho, until the akumatized villain ran into a broom closet and closed the door behind them.

"He's trapped in there, there's no way..." said Cat Noir

Ladybug opened the door, but Eccho had disappeared.

"...out?" asked Cat Noir

"Looking for me?"

Ladybug and Cat Noir turned around to see Eccho on the other side of the room, before he ran off.

"His power must be teleportation" said Cat Noir

"Maybe" said Ladybug

"It's not"

Ladybug and Cat Noir looked up to see their newest ally drop from the ceiling.

"Nice to see you again, Nightwolf" said Cat Noir

"You too, anyway, this guys power isn't teleportation, it's duplication" said Nightwolf

"How do you know that?" asked Cat Noir

"On my way over here, I ran into Officer Roger, he said the akuma was also spotted at a bank a few streets away, I went there, destroyed the belt they were wearing and he vanished in a puff of smoke" said Nightwolf

"So the akuma is in his belt, but we have to destroy the original" said Ladybug

"Oh, just like with the Sapotis" said Cat Noir

"With the what?" asked Nightwolf

"Long story" said Ladybug

As the trio were talking, several of Eccho's clones approached. They tried to attack the heroes, but the heroes were able to destroy their belts, getting rid of the clones.

"Any way of finding out which one's the original?" asked Cat Noir

"None that I can think of" said Ladybug

The heroes heard screams coming from outside and rushed to the source, finding more of Eccho's clones outside causing panic.

"That's alot of Ecchos" said Nightwolf

"It's enough for an army" said Cat Noir

Several of Eccho's clones attempted to attack the trio, but only had their belts destroyed.

"Don't you see?" asked one of the Ecchos

"It doesn't matter how many of me you defeat" said another Eccho

"Because I can just make more" said a third Eccho, before pressing a button on his belt buckle and another clone appeared

"And more" said a fourth Eccho, creating another clone

"And more" said a fifth Eccho, creating another clone

One of the Eccho clones charged towards the trio, Nightwolf knocked them into the water fountain, before grabbing and breaking their belt.

"Aw man" said one of the other Ecchos

Ladybug looked and noticed that one of the other Ecchos was now dripping wet. More clones tried to attack, but the heroes were continuously able to avoid the attacks and destroy the belts.

"There's too many of them" said Nightwolf

"How are we going to determine the original?" asked Cat Noir

"Only one thing to do..." said Ladybug

_ **"LUCKY CHARM!"** _

_Ladybug flung her Yo-Yo high into the air. Energy shot out from the yo-yo before creating a Spray Paint Can._

"Spray Paint?" asked Ladybug

"Well, we ARE at an art museum" said Nightwolf

Ladybug observed her surroundings, seeing the spray paint can, the water fountain and the army of Ecchos surrounding them.

"I think I have an idea"

As one of the Eccho clones charged towards the heroes, Ladybug used the spray paint can and stained part of their outfit, before quickly ripping off their belt and breaking it, getting rid of the duplicate. Ladybug looked around and saw the same paint stain now on one of the other Ecchos.

"It worked" said Ladybug

"What worked?" asked Nightwolf

"Focus on the Eccho with the stained suit, that's the original" said Ladybug

"Got it"

Nightwolf charged towards the original Eccho and took a swing at him.

"Cat Noir, get his belt" said Ladybug

"On it, milady..." said Cat Noir

_ **"CATACLYSM!"** _

_Cat Noir raised his hand above his head as his hand was infused with negative energy._

Cat Noir charged towards the original Eccho and grabbed his belt, causing it to disintegrate, before the akuma flew out

"No more evil doing for you, little akuma" said Ladybug as she opened her yo-yo

"Time to de-evilize!"

Ladybug captured the purple akuma in her yo-yo.

"Gotcha!"

Ladybug released the akuma, now pruified into a white butterfly.

"Bye-bye, little butterfly" said Ladybug, before throwing the Lucky Charm into the air.

** _"MIRACULOUS LADYBUG!"_ **

An explosion of pink energy dispersed into a swarm of ladybugs that flew around the museum, repairing all the damage caused by Eccho, and reverting him to a normal man in a business suit.

"Huh, what happened?" asked the man

"Pound It!" said the trio of heroes, fist bumping over a job well done

"That was clever, Ladybug, how did you know that would work?" asked Nightwolf

"When I noticed the original Eccho getting wet when one of his clones fell into the water fountain, I realised that the state of the clones must have affected the original" said Ladybug

"Very smart, milady" said Cat Noir

"Yes, well, it's been a long day, so I'm gonna head home" said Nightwolf

Nightwolf turned to leave, only for Ladybug to grab his wrist.

"Huh?"

"I need to talk to you about something first" said Ladybug

"What is it?" asked Nightwolf

Ladybug was about to answer when her earrings started beeping.

"Looks like I don't have enough time, meet me back here tonight at 11" said Ladybug

"Uh...okay" said Nightwolf

Ladybug used her Yo-Yo to swing away.

"What was with that?" asked Cat Noir

"I don't know" said Nightwolf

==Later that Night==

Nightwolf waited on the roof of the Louvre Palace for Ladybug. Eventually, she arrived.

"Aw, good, I was worried you wouldn't turn up" said Nightwolf

"This is to important to ignore, by the way, did you find out what was with Eccho?" asked Ladybug

"Yeah, turns out he was a Louvre employee who was fired for being late too many times, he also was stressed because he always had a busy schedule" said Nightwolf

"So, I guess it was a case of can't be in 2 places at once, so Hawkmoth gave him the power to be everywhere at the same time" said Ladybug

"So, what did you want to talk about?" asked Nightwolf

"Follow me" said Ladybug

Ladybug led Nightwolf to the Eiffel tower and opened a hidden trap door on the ground.

"How did you know about that?" asked Nightwolf

"A friend showed me" said Ladybug

Ladybug jumped into the trap door and Nightwolf followed, before closing the trap door, Ladybug picked up a flashlight that had been left behind and Nightwolf noticed where they were.

"Are we in the catacombs?" asked Nightwolf

"Yes, now, follow me" said Ladybug

Ladybug led Nightwolf through the catacombs, before later stopping.

"Why have we stopped?" asked Nightwolf

Ladybug threw her yo-yo up at the ceiling, before another trap door opened.

"Ah, Ladybug, you made it" said someone

Ladybug jumped out of the hole and Nightwolf followed, noticing he was in a small room with Chinese decor. Ladybug gestured towards an elderly man wearing a red Hawaiian shirt.

"Nightwolf, meet Master Wang Fu, the last known member of the Order of the Guardians" said Ladybug

"Greetings Nightwolf, it is nice to meet you" said Master Fu

"What is going on here?" asked Nightwolf

"If you don't mind, I would like to ask you and your kwami some questions"


	4. Bandido

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lucien Baptiste, an old west enthusiast, is given a ticket when trying to stop a purse snatcher, angered by a lack of justice, he is akumatized into Bandido, a gunslinger.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shoutout to redditor Nangbaby for submitting their idea for the inspiration for this akuma.

Marinette walked out of school feeling worried, she had taken Nightwolf to Master Fu last night and she had no idea how it went. After hearing about Nightwolf's kwami being corrupt, she was unsure if she could trust him. She quickly rushed to Master Fu's massage shop to see what had happened.

"Ah, Marinette" said Master Fu

"Hey Master Fu, I was wondering how things went with Nightwolf" said Marinette

"It went well, I'd say he can indeed be trusted, at least, for now" said Master Fu

"What actually happened?" asked Marinette

"Well..." said Master Fu

==Flashback==

_"Howll! Full Moon Set!" said Nightwolf, transforming back into Zach Petiot_

_"So you're Nightwolf?" asked Master Fu_

_"Yeah, and this is..." said Zach, gesturing to his kwami_

_"Howll, I am aware"_

_"Hello there, Master Fu" said Howll_

_"Hello Howll, now, we have much to discuss" said Master Fu_

_"What do you want to ask?" asked Zach_

_"I wish to ask about your kwami's history" said Master Fu_

_"I believe I know what you want to know, I know I did some bad things before, but after meeting Zach, I've changed my ways, I want to make up for what I've done in the past" said Howll_

==End of Flashback==

Master Fu told Marinette about his conversation with Nightwolf and Howll, not mentioning Nightwolf's real name.

"Wayzz talked to the other kwamis, he said they decided to trust them for now, but to be cautious" said Master Fu

"Okay" said Marinette

==Meanwhile==

A man was walking out of the Musee Grevin. He was dressed as an old west enthusiast, red plaid shirt tucked into his wrangler jeans, cowboy boots with spurs, a black cowboy hat covering his brown hair, he even had a sheriff badge. The man's name was Lucien Baptiste.

Lucien walked up to his car when he saw a man stealing a woman's purse across the street.

"Hey, now what do you bad eggs think you're doing?" asked Lucien

The man saw Lucien and got into his car and drove off

"No good troublemaker" said Lucien

Suddenly, Lucien heard a police siren and was forced to pull over. Officer Roger Raincomprix walked over to his car.

"Do you know why I pulled you over?" asked Roger

"I apologize for whatever it was, officer, but a man was..." said Lucien

"I don't wanna hear it, you were going way too fast, that earns you a ticket" said Roger, handing a ticket to Lucien

"You have GOT to be kidding me" said Lucien

"Questioning authority, that's another ticket" said Roger, writing out another ticket

Lucien grew more and more frustrated, knowing, by now, the mugger was long gone.

==Hawkmoth's Lair==

"Where is the justice? These days, a group of vandals can do as they please while someone trying to stop them gets in trouble with the law, well, that just simply won't do, will it?" asked Hawkmoth

A white butterfly flew into Hawkmoth's hand, he covered it with his other hand as it was engulfed in a dark energy, turning it black and purple.

"Fly, my evil akuma, and evilize him" said Hawkmoth

==Meanwhile==

Lucien drove home when the akuma flew into his sheriff badge. A purple outline started shining infront of his eyes.

"_Bandido, I am Hawkmoth, you and I see the truth about law and order, there must be someone who can dish out pure justice to the streets of Paris, I can make it so that someone is you, but if I do this, you must bring me Ladybug and Cat Noir's miraculous_" said Hawkmoth

"By hook or by crook, partner" said Lucien

A dark energy enveloped Lucien, turning him from an old west enthusiast into a real life cowboy, with twin six-shooters holstered on his belt, a lever action rifle strapped to his back. He now wore a brown leather vest over a black shirt with a poncho around his shoulders, he had brown leather gauntlets and boots. His hat barely covering his now silver hair, the lower half of his face now covered by a black bandana. He had bandoliers wrapped around his waist, upper arms and even his hat.

"Time to clean up Paris, starting with the no good varmints that like to prey on the weak" said Bandido

==Meanwhile==

Zach Petiot was walking to the Place des Vosges, he was meeting up with Adrien, they had been paired together on a school project and Adrien had a photoshoot scheduled for the day, so they decided to meet up there. On the way, Zach bumped into Officer Roger.

"Sorry about that officer, I was in a bit of a hurry" said Zach

"No problem, just be careful" said Roger

"Of course" said Zach

Zach walked past Roger.

==Meanwhile==

A group of teenagers were graffiting some buildings when Bandido walked up to them.

"Freeze" said Bandido

The teens turned to see Bandido aiming one of his six-shooters at them.

"Now that's not a very nice thing to do" said Bandido

"Get lost, loser" said one of the teens, approaching Bandido

Bandido pulled the trigger and fired his gun at the teen, trapping him in ice.

"I said freeze" said Bandido

The other two teens tried running off in opposite directions when Bandido pulled out his other gun and fired at both teens, freezing both of them.

==Meanwhile==

Marinette was in her room, sketching out her latest designs. Tikki noticed that Marinette seemed a little distracted.

"I can tell you have something on your mind, Marinette, are you still hesitant about trusting Nightwolf?" asked Tikki

"No Tikki, it's not that, it's just...Master Fu said that several corrupt kwamis were supposed to have their miraculous destroyed, right?" asked Marinette

"Yeah, and?" asked Tikki

"Well, if Nightwolf's miraculous wasn't destroyed...does that mean the others are out there?" asked Marinette

"Maybe, but for now we can only hope that that isn't the case, and we can also hope that Howll was telling the truth about wanting to change" said Tikki

"You think he was?" asked Marinette

"I'm not sure, I hope he was" said Tikki

"Yeah, I hope he was too" said Marinette

Tikki noticed the news report on Marinette's computer.

"Marinette, look!"

Marinette turned to the computer and turned up the volume.

"_...and in other news, several Parisian citizens have been turned into ice statues, the result of an attack by an unknown assailant..._" said Nadja

"_Enought with the propaganda_" said Bandido, as the cameras turned to him breaking into the studio

Bandido fired his gun at Nadja and she was frozen in ice.

"_This here's a warnin' to all lawbreakers and bad eggs, y'all better run, 'cause Bandido's dishing out justice from this point forward_" said Bandido, before shooting the camera

"Looks like Paris needs us..." said Marinette

** _"TIKKI! SPOTS ON!"_ **

_Marinette brushed her hair out of the way as Tikki flew into Marinette's earring. Both of Marinette's earrings turned red and 5 black spots donned the surface of the earrings._

_Marinette covered her eyes before moving her hands away to afix her mask._

_Marinette stretched out one arm as a bright pink light pasted Marinette's suit onto her._

_Marinette's Yo-Yo materialized around Marinette's waist._

_With a little dance and a high kick, Marinette posed as her transformation into Ladybug was complete._

Ladybug headed to the roof before running across the rooftops to find Bandido.

==Meanwhile==

Zach arrived at the Place des Vosges just as Adrien was finishing his photoshoot.

"Hey Adrien" said Zach

"Hey Zach, just finished the photoshoot, so we can get started on the project" said Adrien

"I'm afraid not" said Nathalie, approaching the two boys

"Nathalie?" asked Adrien

"There's been an akuma attack, your father wants you home to make sure you're safe" said Nathalie

"But..." said Adrien

"I'm sorry Adrien, it's your father's orders" said Nathalie

"I'm sorry Zach, maybe we can get to work on the project later" said Adrien

"Sure, no problem" said Zach

Nathalie led Adrien to the limo to take him home, Zach quickly rushed to a hiding spot and released Howll from inside his shirt.

"If there's an akuma attack, then we've gotta help stop it..." said Zach, removing his bracer to reveal his miraculous

** _"HOWLL! FULL MOON RISE!"_ **

_Howll flew into Zach's bracelet. His Gauntlet formed on his other arm._

_Zach snapped his fingers infront of his face as his mask materialized._

_Zach ran his fingers through his hair, causing his black, spiked hair to develop purple highlights and a set of wolf ears to form on his head._

_Zach raised his right arm above his head and extened the retractable claws in his Gauntlet, before driving the blades into the ground as his suit formed on his body._

_Zach waved his arms infront of his waist as his belt materialized._

_Zach posed as his transformation into Nightwolf was complete._

Nightwolf leaped to the rooftops when he saw Ladybug and followed her, eventually catching up to her at the TVi studio.

"Where's the kitten?" asked Nightwolf

"Nightwolf? Glad you could make it, Cat Noir hasn't made it yet, I'm sure he'll be here soon" said Ladybug

"Hope so, so, what's the akuma?" asked Nightwolf

"His name's Bandido, some sort of cowboy using ice guns" said Ladybug

"A cowboy akuma? Seems like Hawkmoth might be running out of ideas" said Nightwolf

==Meanwhile==

Adrien had just returned home and went to his room when he let Plagg out of his pocket.

"We gotta help stop that akuma, time to transform..." said Adrien

** _"PLAGG! CLAWS OUT!"_ **

_Adrien's ring changed from silver to black before Plagg flew into the ring as a green pawprint appeared on the ring. Adrien shot his hand above his head._

_Adrien waved his hand infront of his face as his mask materialized, before running his hands over his hair, forming his cat ears._

_Adrien spread his arms as his catsuit manifested from the center of his chest to his hands and feet. Adrien's belt and Bo Staff also materialized around his waist._

_After performing 2 scratch taunts, Adrien posed as his transformation into Cat Noir was complete._

Cat Noir headed to the rooftops before using his staff to call Ladybug.

"_Cat Noir, where are you?_" asked Ladybug

"I was only just able to transform, where's the akuma?" asked Cat Noir

"_The TVi studio_" said Ladybug

"On my way" said Cat Noir

Cat Noir hung up and made his way to the studio. He quickly arrived and was greeted by Ladybug and Nightwolf.

"Thanks for getting here quickly" said Ladybug

"No problemo, bugaboo, so, what's the plan?" asked Cat Noir

"You and I are going to distract Bandido while Nightwolf sneaks up from behind and grabs the akuma" said Ladybug

"So you figured out where the akuma is?" asked Nightwolf

"I'm sure it's in his hat" said Ladybug

"Alright" said Nightwolf

==Inside==

Several police officers had busted in to the studio to try to apprehend Bandido, but to no avail, as they all ended up frozen.

"Hold it right there, Bandido" said Ladybug

Bandido looked to see Ladybug and Cat Noir on the rafter above him.

"Well, well, Ladybug and Cat Noir, I thought you two were now in cahoots with that purple coyote" said Bandido

"COYOTE?!"

Bandido quickly turned around and aimed his pistol at Nightwolf, who was stood right behind him.

"Whoops" said Nightwolf

"So much for the element of surprise" said Ladybug

Ladybug and Cat Noir jumped at Bandido, but Bandido quickly avoided them and started firing. Luckily, the heroes were able to dodge his shots. After 12 shots, Bandido paused to reload.

"Ladybug, quick, the hat!" said Cat Noir

With the opportunity, Ladybug lassoed the hat with her yo-yo, it was caught by Nightwolf, who used the claws in his gauntlet to slice the hat in half, but no butterfly flew out.

"No akuma!" said Nightwolf

"What? Then where is it?" asked Ladybug

Nightwolf observed Bandido, who was currently fighting Cat Noir, when he noticed where the akuma must be.

"Sheriff badge!" said Nightwolf

Cat Noir heard this and reached for the badge, only for Bandido to swat his hand away and aim a gun at him.

"Keep away from the badge" said Bandido

Bandido pulled the trigger and the bullet caused a sonic boom that knocked Cat Noir across the room.

"Whoa, guess his ammo isn't just ice" said Cat Noir

"_Quick, Bandido, get their miraculous_" said Hawkmoth, communicating with Bandido

"We gotta stop those guns" said Ladybug

"Say no more" said Nightwolf

Nightwolf and Cat Noir charged towards Bandido. The akumatized cowboy tried to fire at them, but Nightwolf successfully sliced one of the guns in half with his gauntlet.

** _"CATACLYSM!"_ **

_Cat Noir raised his hand above his head as his hand was infused with negative energy._

Cat Noir grabbed the opposite gun and it disintegrated in Bandido's hand. The 2 heroes both kicked Bandido across the room.

"Nice work, now let's get his badge and purify the akuma" said Ladybug

As the heroes approached, Bandido got back to his feet and took the rifle from his back and fired a shot at the trio, which the heroes avoided.

"How did we forget about the gun on his back?" asked Cat Noir

"Let's just focus on getting past it and getting the akuma" said Ladybug

Bandido continued to fire at the heroes, who kept avoiding the shots, after 8 shots, Bandido stopped to reload when Nightwolf took the opportunity to reach for the badge, causing Bandido to drop one of the bullets, however Bandido fought off Nightwolf before firing at him, trapping Nightwolf in a big block of ice.

"NIGHTWOLF!" said the other 2 heroes

Bandido fired at the heroes, but they jumped out of the way and went into hiding. Cat Noir heard his ring beeping.

"Only a few minutes left, we could use some luck right now" said Cat Noir

"On it..." said Ladybug

** _"LUCKY CHARM!"_ **

_Ladybug flung her Yo-Yo high into the air. Energy shot out from the yo-yo before creating a Rubber Band._

"A rubber band? What am I supposed to do with this" asked Ladybug

"Let's hope you can figure it out quick" said Cat Noir

Ladybug observed her surroundings, noticing the rubber band, Bandido's rifle and the bullet he had dropped earlier.

"I think I have an idea" said Ladybug

"Let's hear it?" asked Cat Noir

"Do you think you've got enough time to distract Bandido?" asked Ladybug

Cat Noir nodded his head and pounced on Bandido, the 2 engaged in a fight. While Cat Noir distracted Bandido, Ladybug grabbed the bullet off the floor and wrapped the rubber band around her thumb and index finger, before pulling back with the bullet, for a makeshift slingshot. Meanwhile, Bandido knocked down Cat Noir and fired the rifle at him, freezing Cat Noir in ice.

"Only one shot, gotta make this count" said Ladybug

Ladybug aimed the slingshot at Bandido.

"HEY BANDIDO, OVER HERE!" said Ladybug

Bandido turned to Ladybug and aimed his rifle. Ladybug released the rubber band and fired the bullet. With perfect aim, the bullet went into the barrel of Bandido's rifle.

"Bullseye" said Ladybug

Bandido tried to fire the rifle, but the gun had completely jammed. Ladybug took the opportunity to use her yo-yo to tie up Bandido's feet and pull him towards her, before taking his badge and stomping on it, breaking it and releasing the akuma.

"No more evil doing for you, little akuma" said Ladybug as she opened her yo-yo

"Time to de-evilize!"

Ladybug captured the purple akuma in her yo-yo.

"Gotcha!"

Ladybug released the akuma, now pruified into a white butterfly.

"Bye-bye, little butterfly" said Ladybug, before throwing the Lucky Charm into the air.

** _"MIRACULOUS LADYBUG!"_ **

An explosion of pink energy dispersed into a swarm of ladybugs that flew around the city, repairing all the damage caused by Bandido, and reverting him back to normal. Cat Noir and Nightwolf were also freed from the ice.

"Huh, what happened?" asked Lucien

"Pound it!" said Ladybug and Nightwolf, fist bumping over a job well done.

"Wait, where's Cat Noir?" asked Nightwolf

"His miraculous was running too out, he must have only had a few seconds before he left" said Ladybug

==Hawkmoth's Lair==

"You may have won this time, Ladybug and Cat Noir, but I assure you, I will have my own justice soon" said Hawkmoth

==The Next Day==

It was Saturday, Marinette was helping her parents in the bakery, when she headed into the back to grab some more flour, Tikki poked her head out of the coin purse.

"You seem alot calmer today, Marinette" said Tikki

"Well, I was thinking about the stuff with those corrupt kwamis, and I realised something, even if the other corrupt kwami miraculous are out there, it doesn't matter, because me, Cat Noir, Nightwolf and the others will work together to keep Paris safe" said Marinette

"So, I'm guessing you've decided to trust Nightwolf, you did just mention him by name" said Tikki

Before Marinette could answer, she heard something from the front of the bakery and went to see what had happened, Zach had entered the bakery and Marinette's father was starstruck.

"You're Zach Petiot, such an honor to meet you, I am a huge fan, I loved Blind Warrior, it's one of my favourite movies" said Tom

"Thank you, it's always nice to meet a fan" said Zach

"Zach? What are you doing here?" asked Marinette

"Marinette? I could ask you the same thing" said Zach

"This is my parents' bakery, our home is just upstairs" said Marinette

"Wait, Marinette, you know Zach Petiot and you didn't tell us?" asked Sabine

"Sorry, I forgot to mention it, but again, Zach, why are you here?" asked Marinette

"Adrien told me this is the best bakery in Paris, I had to confirm that" said Zach

"Okay, what would you like? We do cakes, croissants, breads, macarons..." said Sabine

"You know, I've never had macarons before, I'll try some of those" said Zach

Marinette got Zach's order of macarons, before leaving, Zach took one of them out of the box and tasted it.

"Wow, these are delicious" said Zach

"Glad you like them" said Tom

"Thank you, have a nice day" said Zach, paying for the macarons before leaving. As he left, he received a text.

_Did U get them?_

Zach smiled before texting his reply

_Just got them, on my way over now_

The reply quickly came back

_Great, c u l8r 3_

Zach put his phone in his pocket before walking away


	5. Madame Mirror

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Audrey Bardet is an actress who is turned down for a role due to her age, in favour of Helene Devereux, a younger actress with less talent. Audrey is akumatized into Madame Mirror, who can teleport using reflective surfaces and can fire beams of light from her compact mirror to age people into senior citizens.

Zach Petiot was in a dark room, sat in a chair, his hands tied behind his back and his face bruised and bloody.

"So, you going to tell us what we want to know?" asked one of the men stood infront of Zach

"I'll tell you nothing, you and your boss won't get anything out of me" said Zach

"Oh really?" asked someone else

The 2 men stepped aside as a teenage girl, the same age as Zach, with long red hair, wearing a white mini dress with a black leather jacket.

"I believe you'll tell us everything we want to know, one way or another, Zach" said the girl

"CUT!"

The lights in the studio came on as the director walked up to the people on set.

"What? What's wrong?" asked the girl

"Helene, you called me Zach, again, you're supposed to address me by my character's name, not my actual name" said Zach

"Oh, sorry, my mistake" said Helene

"Okay people, let's take it from the top" said the director

"Actually, is it cool if we take a break?" asked Zach

"Sure, why not?"

Zach stood up from the chair and walked up to his friends, who he had invited on set.

"You're doing great, dude" said Nino

"Yeah, this movie seems like it's gonna be a hit" said Alya

"Thanks guys, but I wish my co-star was a bit more...I don't know...professional" said Zach

"She's not THAT bad" said Adrien

"Don't get me wrong, she's got some talent, but we've had to redo scenes 40 times because of her constant mistakes, since this is her first acting job" said Zach

"So why did she get such a big role for her first?" asked Marinette

"Her uncle is the director" said Zach

==Meanwhile==

Audrey Bardet, a Beaumont born actress, walked into the Le Grand Paris hotel. Recently, Audrey had auditioned for a role in a film called Justice Justicière, she had auditioned to be the main villain, but she was turned down for the role. After getting to her hotel room, Audrey took out her laptop and, out of curiosity, looked up who had gotten the roles in Justice Justicière.

** _CAST:_ **

_Zach Petiot as Jesse_

_Helene Devereux as Vicky_

_Jean Richard as Omar_

_Pierre Dujardin as Claude_

Audrey kept reading and noticed the cast list seemed pretty strong, she recognized Zach Petiot, having co-starred with him in a horror movie a couple years prior, when she played his character's deaf aunt, but she had never heard of Helene Devereux. She looked up Helene's page on the site and found nothing, no past roles, no notable experience, nothing. Something seemed off. Audrey took her phone out and called her agent.

"_Hey, Audrey, what can I do for you?_"

"It's about the movie you got me the audition for last week, did they happen to give a reason why they turned me down?" asked Audrey

"_Um, yeah, they did, but I don't think you're going to want to hear it_"

"What is it?"

"_Well, they said they wanted someone with a more..._"

"A more what?" asked Audrey

"_A more youthful appearance_"

"Youthful appearance? Wait, do you mean..." said Audrey

"_Yeah, I'm sorry Audrey_"

Audrey hung up, she was insulted, they turned her down for the role, just because they thought she was too old. In a sudden outburst of anger, Audrey threw her phone at the wall and shattered a mirror. Audrey took out her compact mirror and checked her reflection.

==Hawkmoth's Lair==

"Age discrimination is an unfortunate thing in today's world, and it looks like it's up to me and my akumas to help this woman do something about it" said Hawkmoth

A white butterfly flew into Hawkmoth's hand, he covered it with his other hand as it was engulfed in a dark energy, turning it black and purple.

"Go forth, my little akuma, and evilize her" said Hawkmoth

==Le Grand Paris==

The akuma fluttered into Audrey's hotel room and into her compact mirror. A purple outline started shining infront of her eyes.

"_Madame Mirror, I am Hawkmoth, these people decided to ignore your talent in favour of that other girl, all because of your age, well, I can give you the chance to prove to them that age is just a number, all I ask in return is you give me the miraculous of Ladybug and Cat Noir_" said Hawkmoth

"I accept, Hawkmoth" said Audrey

A dark energy enveloped Audrey. Her entire body was now composed solely of mirror shards.

==Studio==

Back in the studio, Zach was shooting a fight scene where he took on two goons, which ended when he knocked one goon out with a spinning heel kick and knocked the other out with a lead pipe.

"AND CUT! That's all for today everyone, great work Zach" said the director

"Thanks, great work guys" said Zach, helping the actors playing the goons to their feet

Zach walked up to his friends.

"Awesome scene, Zach, how did you learn to fight like that?" asked Nino

"I've had to learn a lot of stuff for roles, I've also learned to speak a couple foreign languages, I'm a decent artist and I can pull off moves on a skateboard that would make professional skaters jealous" said Zach

"Ever consider hiring stuntmen for some stuff?" asked Alya

"I prefer doing my own stunts" said Zach

"Is their anything you can't do?" asked Marinette

"Yeah, I actually can't sing, I can't dance..." said Zach

"Can't act" said Chloe, who approached the group

"Well done Chloe, you got me there, I suppose the saying is true" said Zach

"What saying?" asked Chloe

"Every dog DOES have her day" said Zach

"Chloe, what are you doing here?" asked Marinette

"Me, Sabrina and Zach were matched up together for a group project for school, Sabrina's feeling sick so I had to come to find Zach" said Chloe

"And you found me, congratulations" said Zach, sarcastically

==Meanwhile==

Helene was on her way to the green room, feeling embarrassed about how she kept messing up her lines.

"Helene!" called someone

Helene turned around to see her uncle, the director.

"Helene, are you okay? You seem upset"

"Well...I can tell I'm no good, you should have cast someone with more experience" said Helene

"Helene, you are good, I can tell this movie is going to make you a star" said the director

Helene smiled.

"Thanks, Uncle" said Helene

"UNCLE?!"

The two looked to see Madame Mirror across the hall from them.

"Now that makes a bit more sense" said Madame Mirror

"Who are you?" asked the director

"Call me Madame Mirror, and you need time to reflect on your poor decisions" said Madame Mirror

Madame Mirror held up a compact mirror and used it to fire a beam of light towards the director, the beam had the effect of aging him up to a senior citizen. Helene screamed and ran off.

"What a coward, I think she needs to grow up" said Madame Mirror

Helene ran back to the main set, screaming for help, she ended up running right into Zach.

"Helene? What's wrong?" asked Zach

"There's an akuma in the building, she got my uncle, turned him into an old man" said a panicked Helene

"Wow, she really DOES need to work on her acting" said Chloe

"I'm NOT..." said Helene

Helene was cut off when she was hit by a beam of light that turned her into an old woman. The group looked to see Madame Mirror.

"Huh, guess she wasn't acting" said Chloe

"I say we get out of here, now" said Marinette

The group all ran off to hide, except Alya, who hid on set to catch some footage for the Ladyblog. Marinette ran to a nearby prop closet and let Tikki out of her purse.

"What's happening?" asked Tikki

"Hawkmoth's newest akuma is aging people to senior citizens, we have to stop her..." said Marinette

** _"TIKKI! SPOTS ON!"_ **

_Marinette brushed her hair out of the way as Tikki flew into Marinette's earring. Both of Marinette's earrings turned red and 5 black spots donned the surface of the earrings._

_Marinette covered her eyes before moving her hands away to afix her mask._

_Marinette stretched out one arm as a bright pink light pasted Marinette's suit onto her._

_Marinette's Yo-Yo materialized around Marinette's waist._

_With a little dance and a high kick, Marinette posed as her transformation into Ladybug was complete._

Meanwhile, Adrien hid in a janitor's closet when he let Plagg out of his shirt.

"You couldn't have hid near the catering? There might have been camembert" said Plagg

"No time for food, Plagg, we have an akuma to stop..." said Adrien

** _"PLAGG! CLAWS OUT!"_ **

_Adrien's ring changed from silver to black before Plagg flew into the ring as a green pawprint appeared on the ring. Adrien shot his hand above his head._

_Adrien waved his hand infront of his face as his mask materialized, before running his hands over his hair, forming his cat ears._

_Adrien spread his arms as his catsuit manifested from the center of his chest to his hands and feet. Adrien's belt and Bo Staff also materialized around his waist._

_After performing 2 scratch taunts, Adrien posed as his transformation into Cat Noir was complete._

Zach helped Nino and Chloe hide in an empty dressing room before hiding himself in the green room and letting Howll out of his shirt

"Well, at least now, you might get a better co-star" said Howll

"That's not funny, Howll, we have to help Ladybug and Cat Noir stop the akuma and put everything back to normal..." said Zach, removing his bracer, revealing the miraculous underneath

** _"HOWLL! FULL MOON RISE!"_ **

_Howll flew into Zach's bracelet. His Gauntlet formed on his other arm._

_Zach snapped his fingers infront of his face as his mask materialized._

_Zach ran his fingers through his hair, causing his black, spiked hair to develop purple highlights and a set of wolf ears to form on his head._

_Zach raised his right arm above his head and extened the retractable claws in his Gauntlet, before driving the blades into the ground as his suit formed on his body._

_Zach waved his arms infront of his waist as his belt materialized._

_Zach posed as his transformation into Nightwolf was complete._

Back on set, Madame Mirror had aged up a couple more people when the heroes stepped in.

"That's enough of that" said Ladybug, tying up Madame Mirror with her Yo-Yo

"Sorry, only Madame Mirror can decide when it's enough" said Madame Mirror

"_Madame Mirror, our so called heroes have arrived, take their Miraculous and bring them to me_" said Hawkmoth

"It's nice meeting you three, but I'm afraid I can't stay to chat" said Madame Mirror

Madame Mirror noticed Alya hiding and noticed Alya's glasses. Madame Mirror's eyes started to get brighter along with the lenses in Alya's glasses, in a bright flash of light, Madame Mirror vanished.

"Where did she go?" asked Cat Noir

"She just disappeared" said Nightwolf

Ladybug heard someone groaning and walked over to the source, it was Alya, she had taken her glasses off and was rubbing her eyes.

"Alya Cesaire, are you alright?" asked Ladybug

"I'm alright, but that flash nearly blinded me" said Alya

"What happened?" asked Nightwolf

"I was trying to get some footage for the Ladyblog when suddenly there was that bright flash, it felt like it was only a couple centimeters from my face" said Alya

"But we saw the flash too, it wasn't that bad" said Cat Noir

"And where did Madame Mirror disappear to?" asked Ladybug

"_I'm right here_" said someone

Alya thought she heard the voice coming from her glasses. The heroes took a look and saw Madame Mirror in the lens, before she seemed to run off.

"What happened?" asked Cat Noir

"That must be a secondary power, she can make her escape using reflective surfaces" said Nightwolf

"Just like my glasses" said Alya

"And now, she can be anywhere" said Ladybug

"Nightwolf, can't you use your 'Instinct' power to find her?" asked Cat Noir

"Oh, yeah" said Nightwolf

** _"INSTINCT!"_ **

_Nightwolf's wolf ears perked up, as his eyes started to focus and his senses increased._

"Well, where is she?" asked Cat Noir

"I can't find her" said Nightwolf

"She must still be hiding in reflective surfaces" said Ladybug

"Wait, my friend, Nino, he wears glasses too, she might end up finding him" said Alya

"Where are they?" asked Ladybug

"This way, follow me" said Nightwolf, leading the way to the dressing room

When the heroes arrived, Nino and Chloe were safe.

"Ladybug, Cat Noir, Nightwolf, I presume you're here with my miraculous" said Chloe

"Nope, we're here because this akuma can move around using reflective surfaces, such as Nino's glasses" said Cat Noir

Suddenly, Nightwolf's power started kicking in, when he realised something.

"Or the mirrors in a dressing room" said Nightwolf

With that, Madame Mirror lept out of one of the mirrors in the room and fired her aging beam at Nino, aging him to an old man.

"AGH!" screamed Chloe

Madame Mirror fired her beam, which was blocked by Ladybug using her Yo-Yo as a shield. Ladybug tried to catch Madame Mirror with her Yo-Yo, but in another flash of light, Madame Mirror disappeared again.

"Dang it, she got away again" said Nightwolf

"And now, she could be anywhere in all of Paris" said Cat Noir

Ladybug suddenly realised something.

"No, she's still in the building" said Ladybug

"How can you be so sure?" asked Chloe

"Madame Mirror should be able to use her power to travel anywhere in the city, maybe even the world, if she wanted, but when she escaped earlier, she came here, she didn't escape outside anywhere, she stayed in the building, why do you think she stayed here when she could have easily gotten away?" asked Ladybug

"Because Hawkmoth wants her to capture our miraculous" said Cat Noir

"Exactly, as long as we stay in the building, she won't leave" said Ladybug

"But we're faced with a problem" said Nightwolf

"What's that?" asked Cat Noir

Nightwolf showed his bracelet and revealed he only had a couple minutes left before changing back.

"Nearly every room in the building has some sort of reflective surface, there's no way we can get around and hide without her possibly catching us when we turn back" said Nightwolf

"And then Hawkmoth will find out who we are" said Car Noir

"But if you leave for a moment to transform outside, she might think you're trying to escape the building, and she'll escape to the city" said Chloe

"Right, here's the plan for now, Cat Noir and I will try to find somewhere else to hide Chloe, Nightwolf, since your Instinct should still be active, see if you can use it to find a place with no reflective surfaces, so you can transform back" said Ladybug

"Alright" said everyone else

The group split up, Nightwolf searched the building for somewhere to transform back, eventually, finding the costume closet. Hiding behind some of the costumes, just as his miraculous timed out and he turned back into Zach.

"This is bad" said Howll

"Yeah, she can hide anywhere in the building at will, and since she hides inside reflective surfaces, we can't use Instinct to find her" said Zach

"Well, let's quickly get back into it" said Howll

"Sorry, little buddy, I don't have any food to bring your energy up, we're going to have to wait" said Zach

Suddenly, Zach started hearing footprints.

"Howll, quick, hide" whispered Zach

Howll hid in Zach's shirt as Zach put his bracer back on to hide his miraculous, just as he did, Madame Mirror appeared in front of him.

"Ah, Zacharie Petiot, it's been a while" said Madame Mirror

"I'm sorry, do I know you?" asked Zach

"I'm surprised you don't recognize me" said Madame Mirror

It took Zach a moment, but he recognized Madame Mirror.

"Audrey?" asked Zach

"So you do remember me" said Madame Mirror

"Audrey, what happened to you, how did you get akumatized?" asked Zach

"I'll tell you exactly what happened..." said Madame Mirror

==Later==

Ladybug and Cat Noir were searching the building for any sign of Madame Mirror, after hiding Chloe in a storage closet.

"Milady, she could be anywhere in this entire building" said Cat Noir

"And even if we find her, she could just hide again" said Ladybug

"Guys!"

The duo looked to see Nightwolf approaching them.

"What kept you? You've been gone for a few hours" said Ladybug

"Sorry, didn't have any food to help my kwami get his energy back faster" said Nightwolf

"Well, any sign of Madame Mirror?" asked Cat Noir

"Not right now, but I overheard a conversation she had with someone, Zach Petiot" said Nightwolf

"Is he okay?" asked Cat Noir

"He's fine, she didn't use her aging beam on him" said Nightwolf

"Why not?" asked Ladybug

"Apparently, Madame Mirror is actually the actress, Audrey Bardet, she was akumatized because she was turned down for Helene's role due to her age, she didn't age Zach because they have a bit of a friendship after co-starring in a movie together a couple years ago" said Nightwolf

"So we know who she is, but what about the akuma, where is it?" asked Cat Noir

"It must be in her compact mirror" said Ladybug

"Very clever" said Madame Mirror

The heroes looked to see Madame Mirror fire her beam at them, the beam almost hit Ladybug when Nightwolf pushed her out the way, getting hit with the beam himself instead.

"NIGHTWOLF!" screamed a panicked Ladybug and Cat Noir

When Madame Mirror went to fire her beam again, Cat Noir blocked it, spinning his staff to shield him and the others from the blast.

"Let's get out of here and think of a plan" said Ladybug

Ladybug got the elderly Nightwolf to his feet and dragged him away, followed by Cat Noir.

"_They're forced into retreat, their miraculous will be mine_" said Hawkmoth

The heroes ended up hiding in another room with a big mirror at one end.

"What room is this?" asked Cat Noir

"_My dressing room_" thought the elderly Nightwolf, but he didn't say anything

"We need to think of a way to stop Madame Mirror, but if she can find any type of reflective surface, she'll just escape" said Ladybug, locking the door

"Well, there is one thing you can do, bugaboo" said Cat Noir

"Right..." said Ladybug

** _"LUCKY CHARM!"_ **

_Ladybug flung her Yo-Yo high into the air. Energy shot out from the yo-yo before creating a Roll of Cling Film._

"Cling film? What am I supposed to do with this?" asked Ladybug

"You need to think of something" said Nightwolf

Ladybug looked around the dressing room, noticing the cling film, Cat Noir and the mirror in the dressing room.

"I have an idea" said Ladybug

Ladybug quickly wrapped the mirror in cling film.

"Alright, here's the plan..." said Ladybug

==Meanwhile==

Madame Mirror searched the building for the heroes, but couldn't find them anywhere, eventually, she jumped into a reflective glass frame in the hallway and started searching that way, until she found the heroes in the dressing room.

"Hey, Madame Mirror, you want our miraculous, come and get them" said Ladybug

When Madame Mirror jumped out of the mirror, she got caught in the cling film, while Madame Mirror was distracted trying to get out of the cling film, Ladybug took the chance to stop her from escaping.

"Now, Cat Noir" said Ladybug

Cat Noir jumped out from behind the mirror.

** _"CATACLYSM!"_ **

_Cat Noir raised his hand above his head as his hand was infused with negative energy._

Cat Noir used his power to destroy the mirror, leaving no reflective surfaces for Madame Mirror to escape.

"Nice plan, Bugaboo" said Cat Noir

"Now let's capture the akuma" said Ladybug

"You haven't won yet, Ladybug" said Madame Mirror

Madame Mirror raised her compact mirror and tried to fire a beam at Ladybug and Cat Noir, only for her arm to be quickly pinned to the ground by Nightwolf's gauntlet, with her wrist stuck between 2 of the blades.

"But, how? You're too old to fight" said Madame Mirror

"Age is just a number" said Nightwolf

Ladybug took the opportunity and grabbed Madame Mirror's compact mirror, before dropping it back on the ground and stomping on it, releasing the akuma.

"No more evil doing for you, little akuma" said Ladybug as she opened her yo-yo

"Time to de-evilize!"

Ladybug captured the purple akuma in her yo-yo.

"Gotcha!"

Ladybug released the akuma, now pruified into a white butterfly.

"Bye-bye, little butterfly" said Ladybug, before throwing the Lucky Charm into the air.

** _"MIRACULOUS LADYBUG!"_ **

An explosion of pink energy dispersed into a swarm of ladybugs that flew around the studio, repairing all the damage caused by Madame Mirror, and reverting everyone's ages back to normal, including Nightwolf, and reverting Madame Mirror back to normal.

"Huh? How did I get here?" asked Audrey

"Pound it" said the trio of heroes, fist bumping over a job well done

==Hawkmoth's Lair==

"You may be the stars today, but I swear this, Ladybug and Cat Noir, one day, your miraculous will be mine" said Hawkmoth

==The Next Day==

Zach and the others were back at the studio to finish some more scenes. Helene had improved quite a bit since yesterday and she wasn't making as many mistakes. Zach and Helene had just finished shooting a scene to finish shooting for the day.

"And cut, perfect you two" said the director

"Thanks sir" said Zach

Zach walked over to his friends.

"Nice work, Zach" said Alya

"Yeah, and seems like Helene's gotten better" said Marinette

"Yeah, she has, thanks to a friend" said Zach

The group looked over at Helene, who was talking with Audrey. After the akuma attack yesterday, Zach had convinced the director to let Audrey work on set as Helene's acting coach.

"Helene's not a bad actress, she just needed a little help, I remember experiencing the same thing when I was just getting started as an actor, back when I was just 7 and I was starring in a comedy movie in Italy" said Zach

"I can tell this movie's going to be a hit" said Nino


	6. Gamer Returns

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Max is once again akumatized into Gamer, now sucking Ladybug and Cat Noir into a game world where they have no powers and no weapons. They must fight off enemies to reach the final level and return home.

On a rainy Saturday afternoon, Marinette was in her house playing video games, she had invited some friends over to try out a new game she got, but they hadn't arrived yet.

"You seem excited for this, Marinette" said Tikki

"I am, Tikki, I don't know the last time me and my friends were able to just hang out and play video games" said Marinette

A knock at the door caught Marinette's attention. She went to answer the door and Alya, Alix, Nino & Zach all entered and greeted Marinette.

"You guys made it" said Marinette

"Of course we did" said Alya

"Hey, by any chance, is Adrien with you?" asked Marinette

"No, sorry" said Nino

"Oh" said Marinette, a little disappointed

"But, Adrien did text me that he's going to be late, he'll be here soon" said Zach

"Really? Great" said Marinette

"So, let's get started" said Alix

Marinette started the game up and handed each of her friends a controller.

"So, what's the game?" asked Zach

"It's 'Heart of the Warrior', it's set in Ancient China, we each play as different warriors trying to stop an omnipotent being from taking over the world, we have to defeat footsoldiers, rescue hostages and collect ancient relics" said Marinette

"Sounds interesting" said Alya

The group of friends started playing when there was a knock at the door.

"I'll get it" said Zach

Zach went to answer the door and opened the door to reveal Adrien, facing away from the door face-timing with Chloe.

"_But Adrikins, we haven't had a chance to hang out since we were little kids, I know you wouldn't leave me hanging_" said Chloe

"No, Chloe, he wouldn't, he'd cut you down after a few days" said Zach

"_Oh, Petiot's here_" said Chloe, her eye starting to twitch

"That twitch becomes you, is it new?" asked Zach

Chloe quickly hung up.

"Zach, as funny as some of your quips towards Chloe are, I really think you should try to get along with her" said Adrien

"Seriously? I don't even know how it's possible that YOU get along with her" said Zach

"I've been friends with her since we were little kids, I guess I'm used to her attitude" said Adrien

"Hey, I was friends with a girl when I was younger, but she changed from a sweetheart to a cold hearted manipulator and opportunist, I haven't seen her since" said Zach

The 2 celebrities entered the living room and took their seats, Marinette handed them each a controller.

While Adrien started setting up his character, he looked over at Marinette and noticed her earrings.

"Hey, Marinette, I never noticed you had earrings before" said Adrien

"Huh, oh, yeah, I got them a while ago, just cheap ones I got for less than a euro" said Marinette, with a little nervous chuckle

"_Huh, they seem kinda familiar_" thought Adrien

After about 20 minutes of playing the game, Zach's cellphone started to ring.

"Excuse me a second" said Zach

Zach stepped out to take the call, it was Max Kante.

"Hey Max" said Zach

"_Hey Zach, where are you? We have a school project to work on and your dad said you were out with friends_" said Max

"Yeah, I'm at Marinette's place, she just got a new video game and she invited some of us to try it out" said Zach

"_Huh...Marinette invited you guys over to play a new video game?_" asked Max

"Yeah, it's really awesome so far, anyway, I'll let you know when I get back home so we can work on our project, that cool?" asked Zach

"_Um...sure, have...have fun_" said Max, before hanging up

==Streets of Paris==

Max headed home, but he couldn't stop thinking about how Marinette didn't tell him about her new video game.

"_I don't get it, Marinette and I are the two biggest gamers in school and she didn't even think to ask me to try out her new game?_" thought Max, feeling left out

==Hawkmoth's Lair==

"The feeling of rejection by those you consider your friends, a great target for my akumas" said Hawkmoth

A white butterfly flew into Hawkmoth's hand, he covered it with his other hand as it was engulfed in a dark energy, turning it black and purple.

"Fly away, my little akuma, and evilize him" said Hawkmoth

==Kante House==

Max returned home, went to his room and got started on his homework, he didn't notice the akuma flutter in through his window and fly into his glasses. A purple outline started shining infront of his eyes.

"_Greetings once again, Gamer, I am Hawkmoth, your so called friends abandoned you and forgot about you, well, if they don't want you playing their games with them, I will give you the power to make them play your own game, of course, there is one thing you must do for me in return_" said Hawkmoth

"Ladybug and Cat Noir's miraculous, of course, Hawkmoth" said Max

A dark aura enveloped Max, he once again was transformed into Gamer. His skin turned purple, his glasses turned green and reshaped to resemble a butterfly. His clothes changed to a black full-body suit with a green circle on his chest and three thin green lines around his waist, each forearm and each lower leg.

==Marinette's House==

The group of 6 continued playing their game when Adrien set down his controller and stood up.

"I'll be right back, I need to use the restroom" said Adrien

"Okay" said Marinette

Adrien headed to the restroom.

"Marinette, could you come help us with something?" called Sabine, from downstairs in the bakery

"Coming Mom!" said Marinette, before setting down her controller and heading downstairs.

While Adrien & Marinette were away from the TV, the others continued to play when the screen went static, before Gamer appeared on the screen.

"Max?" asked Alya

"_Greetings friends, it appears that our guests of honor are absent right now, no matter, for now, you will make the perfect bait_" said Gamer

In a bright flash of light, Alya, Nino, Alix and Zach all vanished from the room. Marinette re-entered the room to find her friends missing.

"Hey, where'd they go?" asked Marinette

"_I'll tell you where_" said Gamer

Marinette saw Gamer on the screen.

"_Your friends are currently within the gaming world, and you will soon join them_" said Gamer

With another bright flash of light, Marinette disappeared.

==Gaming World==

Marinette looked around, finding herself in what seemed to be Ancient China, she was locked in some sort of cage, there were armored warriors that were facing away from her, as if they were guarding her.

"Where am I?" asked Marinette

A hologram of Gamer suddenly appeared infront of her.

"You're in the gaming world, Marinette, and for you to be set free, you just have to hope that Ladybug, Cat Noir and any other heroes are able to save you" said Gamer, before disappearing

"_He wants Ladybug, he'll get Ladybug_" thought Marinette

Marinette went to open her coin purse, but immediately stopped herself.

"_Wait, Gamer can see and hear everything I do...I can't transform into Ladybug_" thought Marinette

==Real World==

Adrien was just finishing washing his hands when his phone started making a weird beeping sound, Adrien pulled his phone out of his pocket and Gamer appeared on the screen.

"_Greetings, Paris, this is Gamer, with an important message to Ladybug, Cat Noir and all their allies, I currently have 5 hostages in the gaming world and it is up to you to save them, all you need to do is come to the Tom & Sabine Boulangerie Patisserie, I will give you more info from there_" said Gamer

Adrien peeked out into the living room, he saw the room empty. Adrien released Plagg from inside his shirt.

"This doesn't look good" said Plagg

"No doubt, time to transform..." said Adrien

** _"PLAGG! CLAWS OUT!"_ **

_Adrien's ring changed from silver to black before Plagg flew into the ring as a green pawprint appeared on the ring. Adrien shot his hand above his head._

_Adrien waved his hand infront of his face as his mask materialized, before running his hands over his hair, forming his cat ears._

_Adrien spread his arms as his catsuit manifested from the center of his chest to his hands and feet. Adrien's belt and Bo Staff also materialized around his waist._

_After performing 2 scratch taunts, Adrien posed as his transformation into Cat Noir was complete._

Cat Noir took out his staff and tried to contact Ladybug, but he got no answer.

"No answer from Ladybug? Strange, but there's no way she didn't see that message, so she has to be on her way" said Cat Noir

Cat Noir entered the living room, when Gamer appeared on screen.

"_Cat Noir, alone? Where's Ladybug?_" asked Gamer

"She'll be here soon, Gamer" said Cat Noir

"_Sadly, we don't have time to wait, looks like for now, you will be playing solo_" said Gamer

In a bright flash of light, Cat Noir was sucked into the gaming world.

==Hawkmoth's Lair==

As Nathalie entered Hawkmoth's lair, she could see that her boss was frustrated with something.

"Sir, what's wrong?" asked Nathalie

"Something's wrong with the powers I gave Gamer, when he's in his gaming world, I can't communicate with him, I can't sense him" said Hawkmoth

"But sir, what if he defeats Ladybug and Cat Noir?" asked Nathalie

"I don't know, if he defeats them in the gaming world, I wouldn't know, all I can hope for is that Gamer remembers to bring me their miraculous if he succeeds" said Hawkmoth

==Gaming World==

Cat Noir found himself in the middle of a village in Ancient China. Gamer appeared infront of him.

"I hope you're ready, Cat Noir, because this is unlike any game you've played before" said Gamer

"What is going on, Gamer?" asked Cat Noir

"It's simple, 5 people have been trapped in the gaming world, it's your job to save them, but first, you need to finish the tutorial" said Gamer

Gamer disappeared and 5 armored warriors with swords lept from the rooftops.

"So there's 5 of you and only 1 of me, I was hoping for a challenge" said Cat Noir

Cat Noir reached behind his back for his staff, but it wasn't there.

"Huh, where's my staff?" asked Cat Noir

Cat Noir barely had enough time to react as one of the warriors charged at him. Cat Noir was able to side step him in time. Cat Noir started throwing punches and kicks to wear down the enemy, before the enemy disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"That's what you get for messing with Cat..." said Cat Noir

Before Cat Noir could finish his sentence, another enemy charged at him and slashed him across the chest with their sword.

"...Noir"

Cat Noir shattered before the pieces started to fix themselves.

"Huh? What just happened?" asked Cat Noir

A beeping pulled Cat Noir from his thoughts, he noticed his ring and saw one of the dots on the paw print had vanished.

"What? But I haven't even used my Cataclysm yet" said Cat Noir

Cat Noir was pulled from his thoughts when another enemy charged at him, Cat Noir dodged the attack and snatched away the enemy's sword, before using it to defeat him. Cat Noir started sword fighting with the other 3 enemies, before being able to defeat them all.

"That wasn't too hard" said Cat Noir

** _TUTORIAL COMPLETED_ **

A door appeared in front of Cat Noir, with the words 'Level 1' etched into the door. Cat Noir stepped through the door, ready for what was to come. When Cat Noir stepped through the door, he found himself in another street. When he looked closer, he saw Marinette trapped in a cage.

"Are you okay?" asked Cat Noir, walking closer to the cage

"I'm fine, what about you?" asked Marinette

"It's gonna take a lot to..." said Cat Noir, before being cut off

"LOOK OUT!" screamed Marinette

Cat Noir looked to his side and moved out of the way of an arrow being shot at him. Several enemies jumped out of the windows of the buldings, most weilding Dao swords, with a couple weilding Nu crossbows.

"Now guys, let's take a paws and talk about this" said Cat Noir

When one enemy tried taking a swing at Cat Noir with their sword, the black clad hero dodged the attack and kicked them away.

"Never mind" said Cat Noir

Cat Noir started fighting each of the enemies, quickly defeating all of them.

"That wasn't so hard" said Cat Noir

Cat Noir walked up to Marinette's cage when he was knocked back. When he got back to his feet, he saw a heavily armored enemy weilding a Yue axe.

"Great, a level boss, just purr-fect" said Cat Noir, sarcastically

Cat Noir started to fight with the large boss, but he was definitely struggling. Marinette realised Cat Noir needed some help. She looked up and saw something that might help.

"CAT NOIR! UP THERE!" said Marinette, pointing to the rooftops

Cat Noir looked up to the rooftops when he saw a chest floating and spinning. Cat Noir jumped up to the rooftops and ran towards the chest, when he touched the chest, it disappeared, leaving only the cat miraculous floating in it's place.

"Huh? My ring, but I'm already wearing it" said Cat Noir

Cat Noir reached out towards the ring. When he touched the ring, it disappeared.

_ **CATACLYSM UNLOCKED** _

"Huh?" asked Cat Noir

Cat Noir jumped back down to the ground and was once again, face to face, with the boss.

"I guess it's worth a shot..."

** _"CATACLYSM!"_ **

_Cat Noir raised his hand above his head as his hand was infused with negative energy._

Cat Noir placed his hand on the boss and they disintegrated into dust.

"I can't believe you used your Cataclysm on a person" said Marinette

"He was just a series of pixels, I would never use my power on a living being" said Cat Noir, picking up the key left behind by the boss.

Suddenly, Cat Noir heard beeping and saw another mark on the pawprint on his ring had disappeared.

"What's happening now?" asked Cat Noir

"Well Cat Noir..." said someone

Cat Noir looked on top of Marinette's cage, seeing Gamer standing on top of the cage.

"...in the real world, when you use your Cataclysm, you only have 5 minutes before you transform back, but in this world, the rules are different, you can use your Cataclysm as many times as you like, but every time you do, you will just lose another life" said Gamer

"You can't do that" said Marinette

"I can, my world, my rules" said Gamer, before disappearing

Cat Noir released Marinette from her cage.

"Thanks, but where's Ladybug?" asked Marinette

"I don't know, she should have been here by now" said Cat Noir

With no further words, Marinette started to glow, before she disappeared.

_ **LEVEL 1 COMPLETED** _

==Real World==

Marinette reappeared in the living room, she quickly rushed to her bedroom. When she was in her bedroom, she released Tikki from her coin purse.

"Marinette, are you okay?" asked Tikki

"I'm fine Tikki, thanks to Cat Noir, but now we need to help him save our friends..." said Marinette

** _"TIKKI! SPOTS ON!"_ **

_Marinette brushed her hair out of the way as Tikki flew into Marinette's earring. Both of Marinette's earrings turned red and 5 black spots donned the surface of the earrings._

_Marinette covered her eyes before moving her hands away to afix her mask._

_Marinette stretched out one arm as a bright pink light pasted Marinette's suit onto her._

_Marinette's Yo-Yo materialized around Marinette's waist._

_With a little dance and a high kick, Marinette posed as her transformation into Ladybug was complete._

Ladybug left the room through the hatch in her roof before swinging round to reenter the living room through an open window.

"Hey, Gamer, you want me, here I am..." said Ladybug

==Gaming World==

After Marinette disappeared, another door appeared in her place, Cat Noir stepped through to move on to the next level. Cat Noir found himself in some sort of restaurant.

"Good, I could use a snack" said Cat Noir

As soon as he had finished his sentence, an arrow was shot at him and got stuck in the doorframe he was standing in. Several enemies stepped forward.

"This is quickly starting to get old" said Cat Noir

Cat Noir got ready to fight. One of the enemies charged at him and tried attacking Cat Noir, Cat Noir was able to fight them off and defeat them.

"So, who's next?" asked Cat Noir

One enemy tried to fire an arrow at Cat Noir, but the arrow was caught in mid air by Ladybug.

"Need some help, kitty?" asked Ladybug

"Bugaboo, where have you been?" said Cat Noir

"Sorry, I was unable to get here sooner, thank god you already completed the tutorial and the first level, made things much easier for me to catch up" said Ladybug

While Ladybug was talking to Cat Noir, another enemy tried to attack the heroic duo, but Cat Noir was able to kick them away.

"Speaking of 'catch up', maybe we should save Gamer's hostages before we catch up with eachother" said Cat Noir

"Good point" said Ladybug

The duo worked together to fight off the enemies, but they struggled due to them not possessing their weapons.

"Any plans, milady?" asked Cat Noir

"Not right now, maybe there's another power up" said Ladybug

"I'm on it" said Cat Noir

Cat Noir retreated to search the restaurant to find a power up to help them in the fight. When he entered the restroom, he saw a chest in the middle of the room, when he touched it, the chest disappeared and was replaced with a power up.

"Just what I needed" said Cat Noir

Meanwhile, Ladybug continued to fight off the enemies until Cat Noir returned, now weilding his bo staff. Cat Noir was able to help Ladybug defeat the remaining enemies.

"Good thing you found your staff" said Ladybug

"Yeah, now, let's find the hostage in this level and get closer to reaching Gamer" said Cat Noir

Ladybug and Cat Noir entered the restaurant kitchen and saw Alix locked in a cage.

"Ladybug, Cat Noir, thank god you're here" said Alix

"Don't worry, we'll get you out of there" said Ladybug

As Ladybug and Cat Noir approached the cage, a heavily armored enemy, weilding a Qiang spear, burst through the ceiling.

"Another level boss" said Cat Noir

Ladybug and Cat Noir fought the boss, when Cat Noir was swatted into a wall, Ladybug tried to perform a jumping kick to the boss' face, but was knocked down before the boss raised the spear above their head.

"MILADY! NO!" screamed a panicked Cat Noir

Too late, the boss brought the spear down and Ladybug shattered to pieces, before the pieces repaired themselves, one of the spots on her earrings disappearing, showing her losing one of her lives. The boss went to attack Ladybug again, but Cat Noir smacked the boss in the back of the head with his staff, knocking the boss onto one knee, Ladybug performed a backflip kick to knock the boss onto their back, where they shattered, leaving behind the key to Alix's cage.

"Brilliant work, as always, bugaboo" said Cat Noir

Rolling her eyes, Ladybug took the key to release Alix.

"Thanks for the help, guys" said Alix

"No need to thank us, it's what we do!" said Ladybug

Alix started to glow, before she disappeared and the door to the next level was left in her place.

_ **LEVEL 2 COMPLETED** _

Ladybug and Cat Noir continued to play the game, they were next able to rescue Nino from a zen garden, Cat Noir may have lost another life, but thankfully, Ladybug was able to obtain her Yo-Yo.

In Level 4, they had to rescue Alya from a dojo. Ladybug lost one of her own lives, but that was all. When the heroes released Alya from her cage, they both got ready when the door to the final level was before them. They stepped through the door and entered a temple, with Gamer sitting at the throne, Zach was locked in a cage hanging above Gamer's throne.

"Ah, you made it to the final level, I'll admit, I'm impressed" said Gamer

"Give it up, Gamer, we all know how this is going to go, so just release Zach and hand over the akuma" said Ladybug

"Not going to happen, don't you see? You're in my world, you play by my rules, and if you want out, you have to go through me!" said Gamer

With a wave of his hands, Gamer materialized a Jian sword and got ready to fight.

"Fine, bring it on" said Cat Noir

Gamer charged towards them and took a swing with his sword, which was blocked by Cat Noir's staff, Ladybug took advantage of the opportunity and kicked Gamer away.

"I'll take care of Gamer, you try and free the hostage" said Ladybug

"Can do, bugaboo" said Cat Noir, before jumping up to Zach's cage.

Ladybug tied up Gamer with her Yo-Yo, but Gamer was able to escape and get in a big strike on Ladybug, costing Ladybug her third life. When Ladybug respawned, Gamer quickly threw her through a wall, before turning his attention to Cat Noir.

Ladybug got back to her feet and saw a chest infront of her. Once she touched the chest, it disappeared, leaving behind the Ladybug miraculous.

"Perfect" said Ladybug, grabbing the miraculous

_ **LUCKY CHARM UNLOCKED** _

Ladybug re-entered the room and saw Gamer and Cat Noir going back and forth with their weapons.

"Hey, Gamer, I think it's time we end this..." said Ladybug

_ **"LUCKY CHARM!"** _

_Ladybug flung her Yo-Yo high into the air. Energy shot out from the yo-yo before creating a Magnet._

"A magnet?" asked Ladybug

Ladybug heard the beeping as using her Lucky Charm cost her another life. Gamer took a swing at Ladybug, but when she tried to block it, Gamer started getting fuzzy and clutching his head in pain.

"Huh?" asked Ladybug

Ladybug quickly realised, it was the magnet, while in the game world, Gamer must be affected by magnetic forces.

"Any ideas, milady?" asked Cat Noir

Ladybug looked around, noticing the magnet, Cat Noir, Gamer and the cage that Zach was locked in.

"I have an idea, Cat Noir, destroy the cage" said Ladybug

"On it..." said Cat Noir

** _"CATACLYSM!"_ **

_Cat Noir raised his hand above his head as his hand was infused with negative energy._

"NO!" screamed Gamer

Ladybug held the magnet up to Gamer, weakening him and preventing him from stopping Cat Noir. Cat Noir jumped up and grabbed the cage, destroying it and releasing Zach

_ **FINAL LEVEL COMPLETED!** _

With Gamer defeated and Zach released, everyone returned to the real world. Once back, Ladybug and Cat Noir noticed the marks on their miraculous return to normal, and now, Ladybug had her other powers back too. Ladybug grabbed Gamer's glasses and snapped them in half, releasing the akuma inside.

"No more evil doing for you, little akuma" said Ladybug as she opened her yo-yo

"Time to de-evilize!"

Ladybug captured the purple akuma in her yo-yo.

"Gotcha!"

Ladybug released the akuma, now pruified into a white butterfly.

"Bye-bye, little butterfly" said Ladybug, before throwing the Lucky Charm into the air.

_ **"MIRACULOUS LADYBUG!"** _

An explosion of pink energy dispersed into a swarm of ladybugs that flew around Gamer, reverting him back to normal.

"Huh? What happened?" asked Max

"Pound it" said the heroic duo, fist bumping over a job well done

==Hawkmoth's Lair==

"I can sense Gamer has once again been defeated, but rest assured, Ladybug and Cat Noir, one of these days, I will get my hands on your miraculous, and when I do, it will be game over" said Hawkmoth

==Marinette's House==

Ladybug helped Max back to his feet and Alix, Alya, Nino & Zach all approached Max.

"Max, are you okay?" asked Alya

"I'm alright, what happened?" asked Max

"You were akumatized into Gamer again, sent all of us into a gaming world" said Nino

"I did? I'm very sorry guys" said Max

"Max, what happened that made you so upset to get akumatized?" asked Ladybug

"My friend, Marinette, I felt rejected when I found out about her inviting her friends to try out her new video game, but she didn't even invite me, even though the two of us are the biggest gamers in the school, we even won the Ultimate Mecha Strike III Duo Championship Tournament together, but she just forgot about me" said Max

Ladybug went wide-eyed, wondering how she could possibly have forgotten about Max.

"I'm sure she didn't forget about you, Max" said Cat Noir

"Where is Marinette, anyway?" asked Zach

"Uh...don't worry, she's perfectly safe, anyway, me and Cat Noir better get going, Bug Out!" said Ladybug, before leaving through the window. Ladybug used her Yo-Yo to swing up to the roof.

"Tikki! Spots Off!" said Ladybug, detransforming into Marinette

Marinette entered her bedroom through her trap door, before heading down to the living room, Cat Noir was still there.

"Hey, I just saw Ladybug swing away, is everyone okay?" asked Marinette

"We're all fine, where were you?" asked Alya

"After Cat Noir saved me, I panicked and rushed to the roof and locked the hatch, sorry if I worried you" said Marinette

"It's alright, at least you're safe" said Nino

"Wait...Where's Adrien?" asked Marinette

"Oh, don't worry, he wasn't trapped in the game, I got here before he could be trapped and told him to head home" said Cat Noir

"Thanks for all your help Cat Noir" said Marinette

"No problem, just doing my job, stay safe" said Cat Noir, before leaving

"I guess I better be going to" said Max

Max went to leave when Marinette grabbed him by the shoulder.

"You don't have to, why don't you join our game?" asked Marinette

"No, it's alright" said Max

"Come on, we insist" said Marinette

"Yeah, it's a really cool game" said Alix

"Um...are you sure?" asked Max

"Of course, come on" said Marinette

Max smiled and took a seat to join everyone in their game.

==Later==

It was late at night. Adrien had just finished brushing his teeth and had gotten ready for bed.

"Goodnight Plagg" said Adrien

"Goodnight kid" said Plagg

As Plagg went to sleep, Adrien pulled a notebook from under his bed, it was a scrapbook about Ladybug. He turned to a blank page and grabbed a pen and started writing.

_ **Marinette = Ladybug?** _


	7. Bookworm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette invites some girls from class over for a sleepover. Mireille Caquet is made fun of for her love of a children's book series by Chloe, so Hawkmoth akumatizes her into Bookworm, who can pull any object or character out of the books she has in her possession.

Marinette walked to school that morning with a visible look of excitement on her face. Her parents were going away for until tomorrow evening and they had given Marinette permission to host a sleepover, Marinette was really excited since she had never hosted a sleepover before, granted, she had been to a couple since joining Francoise Dupont High School, but she had never had a chance to host one of her own. When Marinette arrived at school, she immediately ran up to Alya.

"Hey, Marinette, you seem happy" said Alya

"I am, my parents are going away until tomorrow and they've let me have a sleepover tonight" said Marinette

"Then you know I'll be there" said Alya

"Awesome" said Marinette

"Now what's going on here?"

The girls looked to see Nino, Zach and Adrien approaching them.

"Marinette's got the house to herself tonight, so she's hosting her first sleepover" said Alya

"Really? Sounds cool, Mari, but I need to take care of Achilles tonight, so I can't attend" joked Zach

"Actually Zach, the sleepover is girls only" said Marinette

"Also, who's Achilles?" asked Nino

"Oh right, you guys have never been to my house, Achilles is my dog" said Zach

The friends shared a small talk as they headed to the classroom. Marinette told the other girls about her sleepover when Zach noticed Sabrina approaching the classroom.

"Here you go, Sabrina" said Zach, holding the door open

"Thanks, Zach" said Sabrina

Once Sabrina entered the classroom, Zach let the door go.

"OW!" said someone

Zach opened the door again and Chloe entered with a hand on her forhead.

"Didn't you see me?" asked Chloe

"Why? What difference would it make?" asked Zach

"Ah, Chloe, Sabrina" said Marinette

"What is it Marinette?" asked Chloe

"I'm hosting a sleepover tonight at my place and I was wondering if you two would like to attend" said Marinette

"Huh?" asked Alya

Everyone in class got confused.

"Um, thanks for the invite Marinette, but I'm busy tonight" said Sabrina

"Okay, what about you Chloe?" asked Marinette

"Well, I don't have any plans for the night, so I should be free to attend, but only if we don't stay up too late" said Chloe

"Why?" asked Marinette

"If I don't get enough beauty sleep, I end up looking like a monster" said Chloe

Zach was about to speak.

"Zach, don't!" said Adrien

"But Adrien, fish gotta swim" said Zach

Everyone took their seats to start the lesson.

==Later that Day==

After getting home from school, Marinette made some snacks and prepared for her friends to arrive.

"This is going to be a great night, Marinette" said Tikki

"Thanks Tikki, I'm excited to finally host my first sleepover" said Marinette

"I'm a little confused about one thing" said Tikki

"What is it?" asked Marinette

"Well...why did you invite Chloe?" asked Tikki

"Well, Chloe and I have been enemies for years, she's always been entitled, stuck up and just mean, but ever since she started being Queen Bee, she's started to show a better side of herself, I feel like me and her could actually be friends" said Marinette

"That's very mature of you, Marinette" said Tikki

A knock at the door pulled Marinette and Tikki from their conversation, Tikki hid in Marinette's purse as Marinette answered the door to let in her guests.

==Petiot House==

Zach was home alone tonight. He filled his dog's bowl before lying down, Howll could tell that Zach was deep in thought about something.

"You're thinking about you-know-who again, aren't you?" asked Howll

"Am I that obvious?" asked Zach

"Zach, I know you want to get your hands on him for what happened, but you just need to be patient, one of these days, he'll show himself" said Howll

"Yeah, and when he does...he's mine" said Zach

Zach smiled and scratched Howll's chin. They were interrupted when they heard the doorbell.

"You have company" said Howll

"Then you should hide" said Zach

==Marinette's House==

Marinette and her friends got ready to start a movie when there was a knock at the door.

"Who could that be? Marinette, did you invite anyone else?" asked Alya

"Actually, yes, I did" said Marinette

Marinette went to open the door and the final 2 guests entered, Aurore Beaureal and Mireille Caquet.

"Aurore, Mireille, so glad you could make it" said Marinette

"Of course, Marinette" said Aurore

"You two are just in time, we were just about to start a movie" said Marinette

==Agreste Manor==

Adrien was in his room, writing down some stuff in his notebook, noting some more notes about Marinette possibly being Ladybug, meanwhile, Plagg was happily munching on a piece of camembert.

"You really think it's her?" asked Plagg

"You telling me it's not her?" asked Adrien

"I'm not saying that" said Plagg

"So you're saying it IS her?" asked Adrien

"I'm not saying that, either" said Plagg

"Then what are you saying?"

"I'm not saying anything, I'm just asking if you're sure it's her, or, are you just hoping it's her?" asked Plagg

"Plagg, enough with the riddles, just go back to eating your cheese" said Adrien

"Oh, don't worry, I plan to" said Plagg

"Actually, Plagg, you saw Ladybug when she was detransformed, you know who she is, so tell me, am I onto something?" asked Adrien

"I'm sorry kid, I can't" said Plagg

"Why not?" asked Adrien

"It's not my place to tell you, also, my mouth is full" said Plagg, before shoving some cheese into his mouth.

Adrien went back to his notes

"Hey kid, can I ask a question?" asked Plagg

"Sure, go ahead" said Adrien

"If Marinette somehow WAS Ladybug, how would you feel?" asked Plagg

"Huh?" asked Adrien

"Well, would you be happy? Disappointed? Annoyed?" asked Plagg

"Well...um..." said Adrien, unsure how to answer

==Marinette's House==

The girls were half-way through the movie when Mireille tapped Marinette on the shoulder.

"What is it, Mireille?" asked Marinette

"Marinette, where's your bathroom?" asked Mireille

"It's just down there" said Marinette, pointing in the direction

"Thank you" said Mireille

Mireille got up and made her way to the bathroom when she tripped over her bag, which she had left on the floor.

"Mireille, are you okay?" asked Aurore

"I'm fine, don't worry" said Mireille

Mireille stood back up when Chloe noticed something on the floor.

"Hey, what's this?" asked Chloe, picking up a book that had fallen out of Mireille's bag. The book was called 'Elwyn Maglar'

"No, Chloe, that's..." said Mireille

"Wait, Elwyn Maglar? That children's book about elves and fairies? I stopped reading these books when I was 6" said Chloe, laughing

Tears started to fall from from Mireille's eyes as she grabbed the book from Chloe's hands and ran up to Marinette's bedroom.

==Hawkmoth's Lair==

"It's a sad day when people are humiliated for their interests, but it's perfect for my akumas" said Hawkmoth

A white butterfly flew into Hawkmoth's hand, he covered it with his other hand as it was engulfed in a dark energy, turning it black and purple.

"Fly to her, my little akuma" said Hawkmoth

==Marinette's Bedroom==

Mireille sat in the corner of Marinette's bedroom when the akuma flew into her book. A purple outline started shining infront of her eyes.

"_Bookworm, I am Hawkmoth, I can sense you feel humiliated, made fun of just for something you enjoy, it's sad, really, but I can help you show others some respect, all I ask in return is for you to bring me the miraculous of Ladybug and Cat Noir_" said Hawkmoth

"We have a deal, Hawkmoth" said Mireille

A dark aura enveloped Mireille as she began to transform.

==Downstairs==

"I can't believe you Chloe, you completely embarrassed Mireille, actually, saying it out loud, it's not different from how you usually are" said Marinette

"Oh please, even you can't deny those books are for little kids" said Chloe

"That's irrelevant, Mireille likes those books and you shouldn't have made fun of her for that" said Aurore

"But..." said Chloe

"But nothing, Chloe, now go upstairs and apologize right now!" said Marinette

"Ugh, alright" said Chloe

Chloe went up the stairs and knocked on the trap door to Marinette's bedroom.

"Mireille, I'm sorry, I acted inappropriately, I shouldn't have laughed at you" said Chloe, clearly not meaning it

No answer.

"Uh, Mireille?" asked Chloe

Still nothing.

"She must be ignoring me" said Chloe

"I wouldn't be surprised" said Alix

Chloe opened the trap door and entered Marinette's bedroom.

"Mireille?" asked Chloe

"Mireille isn't here..."

Chloe turned to see the akumatized Mireille. Her skin had turned a deep shade of pink and her eyes were gold, her pyjamas were replaced with a brown business suit with a knee length skirt, her hair, now longer and white, was topped with a brown trilby and on her feet, she now wore a pair of black flat business shoes. Her book was now wrapped in rope and was hanging from her belt.

"There is only Bookworm"

"Oh no" said Chloe, before running back down the stairs, closing the trap door behind her.

"Chloe? What's going on?" asked Juleka

"Mireille's been akumatized" said Chloe

"WHAT!?" asked Aurore

The trap door opened again and Bookworm walked down the stairs.

"This isn't good" said Rose

Bookworm grabbed her book.

"You know Chloe, I've been thinking, maybe the reason you made fun of the book is because you don't appreciate it, so, I would like to read a little part of it to you" said Bookworm

Bookworm opened the book and began reading.

"..._there, Elwyn stood face-to-face with his latest hurdle in his quest, the treacherous Stone Trolls_..." said Bookworm

As she spoke, 5 small creatures with grey skin appeared infront of her.

"Say hello to the Stone Trolls" said Bookworm, closing the book

"I think now would be a good time to run" said Marinette

"Why? What are they going to do?" asked Alix

As soon as Alix finished her question, one of the trolls jumped at her and bit her arm.

"OW!"

Alix punched the troll off her arm and it vanished in a puff of smoke, but the bite mark left behind had a strange effect. Alix felt her arm go stiff, she looked to see her arm turning to stone, within seconds, Alix completely transformed into a stone statue. The other girls tried to run off as Bookworm ordered the other trolls to follow them.

Most of the girls left the bakery while Marinette tried to hide so she could transform.

"Alright Tikki, time to..." said Marinette

Marinette stopped when she noticed she didn't have her coin purse.

"Oh no, I left my purse upstairs" said Marinette

Marinette turned to see one of the trolls running towards her, when it jumped at her, Marinette quickly grabbed a baking tray that was next to her and swatted the troll away, causing it to disappear in a puff of smoke. Marinette quickly pulled her phone out of her pocket and called Alya.

"_Marinette, thank god, you're okay_" said Alya

"I'm fine, Alya, how are the others?" asked Marinette

"_It's not great, Mylene and Rose both got bit by those trolls, we were able to take out 3 more of them though_" said Alya

"I was able to get the last one before it could bite me, so Bookworm doesn't have any trolls left" said Marinette

"_Awesome, listen, don't go anywhere, I'll try to find you_" said Alya, before hanging up

Marinette couldn't stay, she needed to stop Bookworm. Marinette ran outside and saw that Bookworm had summoned more minions, an army of knights.

"Go forth my army, find me Chloe Bourgeois" said Bookworm

Being careful to avoid being seen, Marinette ran upstairs and grabbed her purse off the sofa and released Tikki.

"Marinette, you're okay" said Tikki

"Yeah, so far my sleepover isn't going so well, we need to stop Bookworm..." said Marinette

** _"TIKKI! SPOTS ON!"_ **

_Marinette brushed her hair out of the way as Tikki flew into Marinette's earring. Both of Marinette's earrings turned red and 5 black spots donned the surface of the earrings._

_Marinette covered her eyes before moving her hands away to afix her mask._

_Marinette stretched out one arm as a bright pink light pasted Marinette's suit onto her._

_Marinette's Yo-Yo materialized around Marinette's waist._

_With a little dance and a high kick, Marinette posed as her transformation into Ladybug was complete._

With her transformation complete, Ladybug headed back out to fight Bookworm's army.

==Meanwhile==

At the Petiot house, Zach was finishing some homework when he heard a loud commotion outside. He looked to see an army of fantasy creatures wandering the streets of Paris.

"Hawkmoth must have been busy" said Howll

"Ladybug and Cat Noir won't be able to fight all them on their own" said Zach, removing his bracer to reveal his miraculous.

_ **"HOWLL! FULL MOON RISE!"** _

_Howll flew into Zach's bracelet. His Gauntlet formed on his other arm._

_Zach snapped his fingers infront of his face as his mask materialized._

_Zach ran his fingers through his hair, causing his black, spiked hair to develop purple highlights and a set of wolf ears to form on his head._

_Zach raised his right arm above his head and extened the retractable claws in his Gauntlet, before driving the blades into the ground as his suit formed on his body._

_Zach waved his arms infront of his waist as his belt materialized._

_Zach posed as his transformation into Nightwolf was complete._

Nightwolf left the house and went off to fight the army.

==Agreste Manor==

Adrien was in the bathroom, brushing his teeth and getting ready for bed when he heard screaming.

"Plagg, what's going on?" asked Adrien

"How should I know?" asked Plagg

Adrien turned to his computer to see a live-stream of the akuma attack on Alya's ladyblog.

"That doesn't look good..." said Adrien

_ **"PLAGG! CLAWS OUT!"** _

_Adrien's ring changed from silver to black before Plagg flew into the ring as a green pawprint appeared on the ring. Adrien shot his hand above his head._

_Adrien waved his hand infront of his face as his mask materialized, before running his hands over his hair, forming his cat ears._

_Adrien spread his arms as his catsuit manifested from the center of his chest to his hands and feet. Adrien's belt and Bo Staff also materialized around his waist._

_After performing 2 scratch taunts, Adrien posed as his transformation into Cat Noir was complete._

==Streets of Paris==

Ladybug was fighting off Bookworm's knights when she was knocked down by an attack from behind. The knight raised their sword up, but quickly disappeared in a puff of smoke after behind hit by Nightwolf.

"Thanks for that, Nightwolf" said Ladybug

"No problem, Ladybug, so, what's the situation?" asked Nightwolf

"The akumatized victim is called Bookworm, she can bring creatures from her book to life" said Ladybug

"Sounds hard" said Nightwolf

"No doubt, by the way, any sign of Cat Noir?" asked Ladybug

"You called, bugaboo?" asked Cat Noir, who walked up behind Ladybug

"Ah, kitty, you're here, did you hear what I said about the akuma?" asked Ladybug

"Every word, milady, so what's the plan?" asked Cat Noir

"Not sure yet, all I know is that the akuma must be in her book" said Ladybug

"Then let's go get it" said Nightwolf

The three heroes ran off to find Bookworm, finding her in the middle of the Place des Vosges, she was sat in a throne atop a tower.

"Where did she get that stuff from?" asked Nightwolf

"Probably from the book" said Ladybug

"_Bookworm, Ladybug, Cat Noir and Nightwolf have arrived, bring me their Miraculous_" said Hawkmoth

Bookworm ordered her minions to attack the heroes, but the heroes proceeded to defeat all of them.

"You may have defeated my other minions, Ladybug and friends..." said Bookworm

"Hey, that makes us sound like characters in a kids show" said Nightwolf

"...but you're going to need to do a lot better to defeat the greatest enemy in the book!" said Bookworm

Bookworm opened the book and began to read.

"..._and so, Elwyn stood before the final hurdle in his quest, he knew he needed all the skills he had learned on his journey to defeat Grimm Matches!_" said Bookworm

Above Bookworm's head shone a bright light, which materialized into a large red dragon.

"A DRAGON?!" asked Nightwolf

"Any plans to take down that thing, bugaboo?" asked Cat Noir

"Don't call me bugaboo" said Ladybug

"Sorry, can't help myself" said Cat Noir

"Only one thing to do..." said Ladybug

_ **"LUCKY CHARM!"** _

_Ladybug flung her Yo-Yo high into the air. Energy shot out from the yo-yo before creating a book._

"A book? What am I supposed to do with this?" asked Ladybug

"Uh, you do know we don't want to give her MORE power, right?" asked Nightwolf

Ladybug opened the book and saw the pages were all blank, she looked around, noticing the book in her hands as well as the one in Bookworm's hands and Grimm.

"Or maybe we do" said Ladybug

Ladybug removed the ladybug patterned sleeve from the book.

"Here's the plan..." said Ladybug

As Ladybug explained the plan, Bookworm ordered Grimm to attack, the heroes quickly dodged the attack. The three heroes started to fight Grimm, but could not get a hit on the dragon. When Cat Noir tried for a sneak attack, Grimm swatted the black clad hero away, causing him to land next to the tower where Bookworm was sat atop.

"Now, Cat Noir!" said Ladybug

** _"CATACLYSM!"_ **

_Cat Noir raised his hand above his head as his hand was infused with negative energy._

Cat Noir placed his hand on the tower that Bookworm's throne sat atop and caused it to crumble. Bookworm fell and dropped the book in her hands. Ladybug ran to pick it up.

"GRAB THE BOOK!" said Bookworm

Grimm went to retrieve the book. Nightwolf grabbed the book first and quickly tossed it to Ladybug.

"Got it!" said Ladybug

Ladybug was caught off guard when Grimm attacked her from behind and knocked her down, causing her to drop the book. The dragon picked up the book and handed it to Bookworm.

"Nice try, Ladybug, but not good enough" said Bookworm

Bookworm opened the book, intending to summon another minion, but was shocked when the pages were all blank.

"Wait, THIS ISN'T MY BOOK!" screamed Bookworm

"Hey..." said Ladybug

Bookworm looked to see Nightwolf hand over the real book to Ladybug.

"...looking for this?" asked Ladybug

==Flashback==

When Nightwolf grabbed the original book, he removed the plastic sleeve and put it on the decoy book, which is the one he threw to Ladybug.

==End of Flashback==

"NO!" screamed Bookworm

Ladybug ripped the book in half, releasing the akuma inside.

"No more evil doing for you, little akuma" said Ladybug as she opened her yo-yo

"Time to de-evilize!"

Ladybug captured the purple akuma in her yo-yo.

"Gotcha!"

Ladybug released the akuma, now pruified into a white butterfly.

"Bye-bye, little butterfly" said Ladybug, before throwing the Lucky Charm into the air.

_ **"MIRACULOUS LADYBUG!"** _

An explosion of pink energy dispersed into a swarm of ladybugs that flew around the city, repairing all the damage caused by Bookworm, and reverting her back to normal.

"Huh?" asked Mireille

"Pound it!" said the trio of heroes, fist bumping over a job well done.

"Ladybug? Cat Noir? Nightwolf? What happened?" asked Mireille

"Don't worry about it, Mireille, for now, you should be getting back" said Ladybug

"Thanks" said Mireille, before heading back to the bakery.

"And we should be getting back too, bug out!" said Ladybug, before swinging away

==Hawkmoth's Lair==

"The story is not yet over, Ladybug and Cat Noir, one of these days, your miraculous shall be mine!" said Hawkmoth

==Marinette's House==

Ladybug swung to the bakery and landed on the roof, the final spot on her earrings beeped before she ran out of time and transformed back into Marinette. Marinette hid Tikki in her coin purse and headed inside, going down to the living room where the other girls were.

"Marinette, where were you? I told you to stay put!" asked Alya

"Don't worry, I'm fine" said Marinette

"How did you get upstairs?" asked Mylene

"Uh...Ladybug dropped me off" said Marinette

The girls heard the door open and saw Mireille enter the room.

"Mireille, thank god you're alright" said Aurore

"Don't worry about me, I'm happy you're all fine" said Mireille

Chloe walked up to Mireille.

"Mireille, I'm...sorry, about how I acted before, it was wrong" said Chloe

Marinette could tell that Chloe's apology was more honest than her fake one earlier.

"It's alright Chloe, I know that the book is supposed to be for kids, but I can't help but enjoy it" said Mireille

"So, who wants to get back to the sleepover?" asked Alya

The girls all gathered around the living room to continue the sleepover.

==The Next Day==

At school, the next day, the guys were all in their seats in class when Marinette and her sleepover guests entered together.

"Hey girls, have a nice sleepover?" asked Adrien

"Could have been better" said Marinette

"Yeah, I don't know what was worse, the akuma attack or Chloe's snoring" said Alya

"HEY! I don't snore!" said Chloe

"Please, we had to turn you away from the window so you wouldn't inhale the curtains, still, one of the best nights of my life, though" said Juleka

"Yeah, Marinette, hope you're parents are away more often" said Rose

Everyone took their seats when Marinette's phone went off.

"Someone text you?" asked Alya

"No, it's not that, it's an e-mail from Mr. Agreste's assistant, Nathalie" said Marinette

"What is Nathalie doing e-mailing you?" asked Adrien

Marinette was a bit nervous to respond.

"Well, I-I decided that t-this y-year, since I'm officially old e-enough, I would enter the a-annual Gabriel A-Agreste Rookie Designer competition" said Marinette

"Wow, good for you, Marinette, and?" asked Alya

"Well, the e-mail is about this years theme for the designs" said Marinette

"What's the theme?" asked Nino

"It's..." said Marinette

Marinette checked the e-mail.

"...Heroes" said Marinette.


	8. Gambler

Marinette, Alya, Adrien, Nino & Zach all entered the Place Des Vosges, Adrien was happy to have a free day, since it meant he was able to spend time with his friends, but it also allowed him to keep an eye on Marinette and look for any signs of her being Ladybug. Meanwhile, Marinette was trying to get some ideas for her designs for the Gabriel Agreste Rookie Designer competition.

"You shouldn't worry, Marinette, you're going to do fine" said Zach

"He's right, you're the best designer in the school, isn't she, Adrien?" asked Alya

"Of course, you don't have to stress out so much, besides, you have plenty of time to come up with ideas, the competition isn't for another 2 months" said Adrien

The group failed to notice someone walk up to them.

"Um, excuse me, are you Marinette Dupain-Cheng?" asked someone

The friends looked to see a guy, about their age, he had dark orange hair combed to one side and green eyes. He was dressed in a black dress shirt underneath a white vest, white dress pants and black shoes. Marinette noticed the red ascot scarf around his neck.

"YOU!" said a bitter Marinette

"Ah, you remember me" said the guy

"Of course, I see you haven't grown up much" said Marinette

"And I see you have grown into quite the beautiful lady" said the guy

"Quit the compliments, Jacques, I know why you're here, you're after something, and I can tell you, you can go hug a landmine!" said Marinette, clearly very angry

"Whoa, Marinette, calm down" said Alya

"Please listen to your friend, cherie..." said Jacques

"Don't start calling me that!" said Marinette

"Marinette, you misunderstand my intentions, I am here to extend an olive branch, to put the past in the past, to hope to be friends" said Jacques

Jacques held out his hand for a handshake, Marinette looked at his hand before smacking it away, to the surprise of her friends.

"As if I would ever be friends with a snake like you, I can tell you're still a thief" said Marinette

Marinette stormed off and her friends followed her. Jacques just stood there, in shock.

==Marinette's House==

Marinette returned to her house when her friends caught up with her.

"Marinette, what was with you back there?" asked Alya

"That boy...his name is Jacques..." said Marinette

"We figured that, but why do you seem to hate him so much?" asked Adrien

"You saw that ascot scarf he was wearing?" asked Marinette

All her friends nodded.

"Well, it's mine" said Marinette

"Huh? What do you mean?" asked Adrien

"Well...I was 9 years old..." said Marinette

==Flashback==

_Marinette was walking through the Place Des Vosges, a red ascot scarf sticking out of her shirt pocket. It was the first thing Marinette had successfully designed and made all by herself and she was really proud of it. She was with the Place Des Vosges with her mom and she went to find some kids to play with. She saw a 2 boys playing a game of Battleships, she approached the boys just as the game was ending._

_"F7" said one of the boys_

_"You've sunk it" said the other boy_

_"Haha, I win, Lucas, pay up" said the first boy_

_"Aw, come on, Jacques" said Lucas_

_"Sorry, you agreed" said Jacques_

_Lucas handed Jacques an action figure and walked off with a sad look on his face._

_"Hey, you can't just take his stuff" said Marinette_

_"He made the deal" said Jacques_

_"But that wasn't fair, you should give him his action figure back" said Marinette_

_"Alright, how about this, cherie, I'll give back his toy if you beat me, but first, you need to wager something" said Jacques_

_"Like what?" asked Marinette_

_Jacques looked at the ascot in Marinette's shirt pocket._

_"How about the scarf?" asked Jacques_

_Marinette agreed and the two started their game. Jacques soon regretted his decision, Marinette was completely destroying him._

_"B3" said Jacques_

_"Miss! G6" said Marinette_

_"You've sunk my battleship" said Jacques, in complete shock_

_"So it looks like I win, and you promised to give back his toy" said Marinette_

_Jacques smiled and put his game into his backpack._

_"Of course, but, first things first, cherie..." said Jacques_

_"What?" asked Marinette_

_Quick as a flash, Jacques grabbed the scarf from Marinette's pocket and ran off._

_"HEY! GIVE THAT BACK!" said Marinette_

_Marinette tried to chase after Jacques, but she tripped, when she looked up, Jacques was gone._

==End of Flashback==

"Whoa, I'm sorry to hear that, Marinette" said Zach

"So am I, but I still think you were a little hard on him" said Alya

"Yeah, maybe you're right" said Marinette

==Meanwhile==

Jacques walked through the streets of Paris thinking about Marinette's words. He was expecting her to call him a thief, but when she called him a snake, that hurt.

==Hawkmoth's Lair==

"I feel sorry for those that are just trying to make friends, only to be rejected and treated like filth, well, he's certainly got a friend in my akumas" said Hawkmoth

A white butterfly flew into Hawkmoth's hand, he covered it with his other hand as it was engulfed in a dark energy, turning it black and purple.

"Fly away, my little akuma, and evilize him" said Hawkmoth

==Canal Saint-Martin==

Jacques walked along the Canal Saint-Martin when the akuma flew into the ascot around his neck. A purple outline started shining infront of his eyes.

"_Gambler, I am Hawkmoth, they call you a thief and turned their backs to you when you only wished to be nice, but now, why bother with nice? They think you're bad, and I can help you show them how bad you can really be, but if I do this, you have to do a little favour for me_" said Hawkmoth

"You can bet on it, Hawkmoth" said Jacques

A dark aura enveloped Jacques. His height increased by a full foot. He now wore white gloves, purple shoes and purple tailcoat, he was also wearing a lavander waistcoat and dark purple trousers. His skin turned pale white and a spade formed on his face.

Gambler walked through the streets of Paris, scaring away civillians, but Gambler pulled out a deck of cards and threw them at several civillians. Their eyes faded as they were put under a spell. A black spade symbol formed on their right eyes.

==Meanwhile==

Marinette and the others were heading back to the Place Des Vosges, Marinette's friends had convinced her to find Jacques to apologize. When the group returned, the Place Des Vosges was empty.

"Where did everyone go?" asked Alya

"Oh well, looks like Jacques isn't here anymore, let's go home" said Marinette

"MARINETTE DUPAIN-CHENG" said someone

The gang looked atop the carousel and saw Gambler standing on top.

"Jacques?" asked Marinette

"There's no Jacques anymore, only Gambler, and his followers" said Gambler

"Followers?" asked Zach

Gambler snapped his fingers and his mind controlled minions came out of hiding and stood infront of the carousel.

"Get Marinette!" said Gambler

When the minions started running towards Marinette, Adrien grabbed her and the group ran off.

"Maybe we should split up" said Marinette

"Marinette, they're after you specifically" said Alya

"Just trust me, I have an idea" said Marinette

"Well...alright" said Alya

The group split up.

==Gambler==

Gambler smiled as his minions chased Marinette and her friends.

"_Don't forget Gambler, you still have to hold up your end of the deal and bring me Ladybug and Cat Noir's Miraculous_" said Hawkmoth

"I know, Hawkmoth, but what about their newer friend, Nightwolf?" asked Gambler

"_Take his Miraculous too, it's not completely needed for my endgame, but it can definitely come in handy_" said Hawkmoth

"No problem, Hawkmoth, I'll bring you your jewels, but first..." said Gambler

Gambler took out his deck of cards.

"...a little something to lure out the heroes" said Gambler

==Marinette==

Marinette ran to hide and released Tikki from her purse.

"I messed up, Tikki, I shouldn't have said those things to Jacques" said Marinette

"For now, all we can do is work on purifying the akuma" said Tikki

"Right..."

** _"TIKKI! SPOTS ON!"_ **

_Marinette brushed her hair out of the way as Tikki flew into Marinette's earring. Both of Marinette's earrings turned red and 5 black spots donned the surface of the earrings._

_Marinette covered her eyes before moving her hands away to afix her mask._

_Marinette stretched out one arm as a bright pink light pasted Marinette's suit onto her._

_Marinette's Yo-Yo materialized around Marinette's waist._

_With a little dance and a high kick, Marinette posed as her transformation into Ladybug was complete._

==Adrien==

Adrien hid inside a nearby building, when he saw there was no one to see him, he let Plagg out of his shirt.

** _"PLAGG! CLAWS OUT!"_ **

_Adrien's ring changed from silver to black before Plagg flew into the ring as a green pawprint appeared on the ring. Adrien shot his hand above his head._

_Adrien waved his hand infront of his face as his mask materialized, before running his hands over his hair, forming his cat ears._

_Adrien spread his arms as his catsuit manifested from the center of his chest to his hands and feet. Adrien's belt and Bo Staff also materialized around his waist._

_After performing 2 scratch taunts, Adrien posed as his transformation into Cat Noir was complete._

==Zach==

When Zach found a place to transform, he released Howll before removing his bracer to reveal his miraculous.

** _"HOWLL! FULL MOON RISE!"_ **

_Howll flew into Zach's bracelet. His Gauntlet formed on his other arm._

_Zach snapped his fingers infront of his face as his mask materialized._

_Zach ran his fingers through his hair, causing his black, spiked hair to develop purple highlights and a set of wolf ears to form on his head._

_Zach raised his right arm above his head and extened the retractable claws in his Gauntlet, before driving the blades into the ground as his suit formed on his body._

_Zach waved his arms infront of his waist as his belt materialized._

_Zach posed as his transformation into Nightwolf was complete._

==Ladybug==

Ladybug ran across the rooftops to make her way back to Gambler. When she reached her destination, she jumped down but saw Gambler had vanished.

"Where did he go?" asked Ladybug

Ladybug noticed the screens on the fences turn on and Gambler appeared on screen to give a speech.

"Heroes of Paris, my name is Gambler, and I have a message for you. My minions are easily too much for you to handle, and only I can release them, and I only will on one condition, come to the Hotel de Ville and bring me Marinette Dupain-Cheng, do this and I shall release everyone" said Gambler

"This may be hard" said someone

Ladybug turned around and saw Cat Noir.

"Hey Kitty, you noticed the civillians being chased too?" asked Ladybug

"Yeah, they're safe though, bugaboo, any sign of our canine companion?" asked Cat Noir

"Up here" said Nightwolf, from one of the rooftops. "And you two might wanna see this"

The two heroes hopped onto the roof and Nightwolf showed them the army of henchmen that Gambler had recruited.

"That's a lot of minions" said Cat Noir

"We might need some backup" said Ladybug

"Backup?" asked Nightwolf

"I'll be back" said Ladybug

With that, Ladybug swung away on her yo-yo.

"Where's she going?" asked Nightwolf

==Master Fu's Massage Parlor==

"Marinette Dupain-Cheng, you must pick an ally you can trust to fight alongside you on this mission, once the mission is complete, you will get the Miraculous back from them and return it to me" said Master Fu

Marinette nodded and took the necessary Miraculous.

==Streets of Paris==

While Ladybug retrieved the Miraculous, Nightwolf and Cat Noir worked on fighting off Gambler's minions.

"Good to see you two have been keeping busy" said Ladybug

"Ladybug, where have you been?" asked Nightwolf

"I had to pick up some stuff, Nightwolf, I need you to take this to Chloe Bourgeois" said Ladybug, handing a small box to Nightwolf

"Chloe Bourgeois? You're crazy, right?" asked Nightwolf

"No, I'm serious, Gambler has too many minions for just the 3 of us, we need all the help we can get" said Ladybug

"Ugh, alright" said Nightwolf, before leaving to the Le Grand Paris.

"What about us?" asked Cat Noir

"Cat Noir, you stay here and try to hold off more of Gambler's minions, I need to find a couple more allies" said Ladybug, before swinging off

Ladybug swung to a nearby area where she found Alya and Nino hiding.

"Ladybug?" asked Alya

"Always nice to see you, Alya Cesaire, you too, Nino Lahiffe" said Ladybug

"Let me guess, you need some help" said Nino

"Yes, Gambler has too many minions, so me, Cat Noir and Nightwolf are going to need some backup" said Ladybug, handing the boxes to Alya and Nino.

"You know you can always rely on me to lend a helping hand" said Alya, opening the box to release Trixx

"Lovely seeing you again, Alya" said Trixx

"Same to you..." said Alya, putting on the necklace

** _"TRIXX! LET'S POUNCE!"_ **

_Alya crossed her arms before pulling them apart to reveal her fox mask._

_Alya raised one hand above her head as her suit manifested from her hand to her toes, with her Flute appearing on her back. Her hair also got longer, had developed white tips and was now tied into a ponytail._

_Alya materialized her fox ears and the tailcoat of her suit._

_Alya posed as her transformation into Rena Rouge was complete._

With Alya transformed, Nino took the other box and released Wayzz, before he put on the bracelet.

** _"WAYZZ! SHELL ON!"_ **

_Wayzz flew into Nino's bracelet._

_Nino stretched out one arm as his suit started materializing._

_While the suit formed around his body, Nino started breakdancing as his Shield formed on his back._

_When Nino got back to his feet, he turned away and pulled up a hood, before turning back around, with his goggles now replacing his glasses._

_Nino posed as his transformation into Carapace was complete._

==Le Grand Paris==

Chloe was on the roof of her daddy's hotel watching the chaos caused by the newest akuma when she heard something behind her, she turned to see Paris' new purple clad hero.

"Oh, you're that new wannabe hero, Fightwolf, or something?" asked Chloe

"It's Nightwolf, and if you're going to be like that, I might as well just leave and take this with me" said Nightwolf, holding out the box

"My Miraculous!" said Chloe

Chloe reached for the box when Nightwolf pulled his hand away.

"Uh uh, first, say you're sorry for the attitude" said Chloe

"Excuse me?" asked Chloe

"Say it" said Nightwolf

"Ugh, fine, I'm sorry for being rude" said Chloe

"There, was that so hard?" asked Nightwolf, handing Chloe the box.

"Ugh, you remind me of my classmate, Zach" said Chloe, opening the box and releasing Pollen

"Greetings, my queen" said Pollen

Chloe smiled and put the clip in her hair.

** _"POLLEN! BUZZ ON!"_ **

_Pollen flew into Chloe's hair comb and added colours of black and yellow to the silver miraculous._

_Chloe flipped her hair as a black ribbon tied back her ponytail._

_Chloe tapped her toes onto the ground as her yellow and black bodysuit formed around her body._

_Chloe waved her hand infront of her face to form her domino mask before adding details to the sleeves of her bodysuit._

_Chloe posed as her transformation into Queen Bee was complete._

Ladybug, Cat Noir, Rena Rouge and Carapace all waited for Nightwolf and Queen Bee across from the Hotel De Ville. Eventually, the heroes were joined by their allies.

"Glad you two could make it" said Ladybug

"Of course, Paris needs saving" said Queen Bee

"So, Ladybug, what's the plan?" asked Rena Rouge

==Inside==

Cat Noir, Nightwolf and Marinette Dupain-Cheng entered the Hotel de Ville and noticed the drastic redesign that had been done.

"What happened to the Hotel de Ville?" asked Cat Noir

"Looks like Gambler's turned the place into a casino" said Nightwolf

"Ah, you've arrived" said Gambler

The heroes looked to see Gambler approaching them.

"Okay Gambler, I'm right here, just like you wanted, now let the rest of Paris go" said Marinette

"Of course, I am a man of my word" said Gambler

Gambler pulled out the deck of cards that he used to enslave the people of Paris, the deck of cards burst into flames in his hands and the heroes noticed Gambler's hostages turning back to normal.

"Anyone else, Nightwolf?" asked Cat Noir

** _"INSTINCT!"_ **

_Nightwolf's wolf ears perked up, as his eyes started to focus and his senses increased._

Nightwolf used his Instinct to check for any other hostages. But found no one.

"All clear" said Nightwolf

At that moment, a beeping sound could be heard and Gambler looked up to see Carapace, Queen Bee, Rena Rouge and Ladybug on the ceiling.

"Huh? What's going on?" asked Gambler

"Well, guess since you've released the rest of Paris, there's no need to keep this up..." said Queen Bee

"REALITY!" said Rena Rouge

With a wave of Rena's hand, Marinette disappeared.

"An illusion?" asked Gambler

"NO! They've tricked you" said Hawkmoth

"Fine, if you won't bring me Marinette the easy way, I guess I'll have you bring her to me the hard way" said Gambler

Gambler pulled out a second deck of cards and threw the cards towards the heroes.

** _"SHELL-TER!"_ **

_Carapace's shield formed a force field._

Carapace's Shell-Ter blocked the cards.

"Thanks, Carapace" said Ladybug

"No problem" said Carapace

"We need to get rid of his arsenal" said Nightwolf

"I'm on it..." said Cat Noir

** _"CATACLYSM!"_ **

_Cat Noir raised his hand above his head as his hand was infused with negative energy._

Cat Noir ran towards Gambler. When Gambler tried to pull out another card to throw, Cat Noir quickly grabbed the deck and all the cards disintegrated.

"Now we can take Gambler down..." said Ladybug

** _"LUCKY CHARM!"_ **

_Ladybug flung her Yo-Yo high into the air. Energy shot out from the yo-yo before creating a rag._

"A rag?" asked Ladybug

Ladybug looked around, seeing the rag in her hands, Gambler, Nightwolf and the scarf.

"I think I've got it, Nightwolf, when I give the signal, grab the scarf" said Ladybug

"On it" said Nightwolf

While the other heroes fought Gambler, Ladybug siezed her chance, flipped over Gambler and covered his face with the rag to distract him.

"Now, Nightwolf" said Ladybug

Nightwolf quickly grabbed the scarf and threw it at Ladybug.

"Got it!" said Ladybug

"Nice try" said Gambler, who went to grab back the scarf

"I don't think so..." said Queen Bee

** _"VENOM!"_ **

_Queen Bee spun her Spinning Top before grabbing it with the other hand, her hand was surrounded by energy before taking the form of a bee stinger._

With a prick from Queen Bee's spin top, Gambler was completely paralyzed. Ladybug held the ascot in her hands, prepared to rip it, but she stopped herself, this was her ascot, the first thing she ever designed and made herself. She knew it would get fixed with the Miraculous Ladybug, but she still couldn't bring herself to rip it.

"Uh, Ladybug, you alright?" asked Nightwolf

"Uh, I'm fine" said Ladybug

Ladybug looked at the scarf again, she knew she had to free the akuma to stop Gambler. Scrunching her eyes, she ripped the scarf in half.

"No more evil doing for you, little akuma" said Ladybug as she opened her yo-yo

"Time to de-evilize!"

Ladybug captured the purple akuma in her yo-yo.

"Gotcha!"

Ladybug released the akuma, now pruified into a white butterfly.

"Bye-bye, little butterfly" said Ladybug, before throwing the Lucky Charm into the air.

** _"MIRACULOUS LADYBUG!"_ **

An explosion of pink energy dispersed into a swarm of ladybugs that flew around the Hotel de Ville, repairing all the damage caused by Gambler, and reverting him back to normal.

"Huh? How'd I get here?" asked Jacques

"Pound It!" said the heroes, fist bumping over a job well done

==The Next Day==

Marinette returned to the Place des Vosges when she saw Jacques again, sitting on his own, the ascot in his hands. Marinette walked up to him and sat next to him.

"Hey, Jacques" said Marinette

"M-Marinette?" asked Jacques

"Yeah, um, look, I'm sorry about what I said yesterday" said Marinette

"It's alright, I understand, you were right, the last time we had seen eachother, I was hustling kids for their favourite toys, and when you beat me, I stole this from you, I really am sorry for doing that" said Jacques

"It's in the past, I'll admit, you do seem like you want to change" said Marinette

"I do, I actually had to find all the people I hustled and I returned their stuff, I'll tell you, that was not easy" said Jacques

"Good for you...huh?" asked Marinette, as Jacques held the ascot out to her

"Take it, Marinette, after all, it is yours" said Jacques

Marinette smiled and took the ascot.


End file.
